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JOURNAL OF THE CONVENTION 

CALLED FOR THE PURPOSE OF 


EE-ADOPTING, AMENDING OR CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION 

OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA. 


Monday, 5th August, 1844. 

This being the day fixed by the act entitled 
“An act to provide for the calling of a Con 
vention for the purpose of re-adopting-, amend¬ 
ing or changing the Constitution of the State,” 
approved March 18th, 1844, the Convention 
met accordingly, in the tovvn of Jackson, in the 
parish of East JCeifc'iana^ State of Louisiana. 

On motion of Mr Lafayette Saunders, 
representative delegate from the parish of East 
Feliciana, Mr Bernard Marigny, a delegate 
from the parish of Orleans, was appointed 
President, pro tem . 

On motion of Mr Joseph Walker, senato¬ 
rial delegate from the county of Rapides, 
Horatio Davis was appointed Secretary, pro 
tem. 

Mr Chinn, senatorial delegate from the coun¬ 
ty of Iberville, moved that the call of the sen¬ 
atorial and representative delegates be made 
by counties and parishes. His motion was 
adopted. 

Mr Penn, senatorial delegate from the parish 
of St. Tammany, moved that the delegates 
present, who were provided with their creden¬ 
tials, be requested to deliver them to the Sec¬ 
retary pro tem. His motion was also adopted. 

On the call by senatorial districts the 
following delegates answered, viz:— 

For the 1st District—Gilbert Leonard. 

“ 2d “ John R. Grymes. 

“ 3d “ Isaac T. Preston. 

German Coast—Felix Garcia. 

Acadia—Duncan F. Kenner. 

Lafourche—Thomas Pugh. 

Attakapas—Cornelius Voorhies. 

Opelousas—Thomas H. Lewis. 

Rapides—Joseph Walker. 

Natchitoches—B. B. Brazeale. 


Ouachita—S. W. Downs. 

County of Point Coupee—P. Porche. 

County of Iberville—Thomas W. Chinn. 
East Baton Rouge—W. B. Scott. 

The parishes of Washington, St. Helena. 
St. Tammany and Livingston—M. G. Penn, 
East and West Feliciana—Thos. W. Scott. 

representative delegates. 
Plaquemines—-Thomas M. Wadsworth. 

St. Bernard—Alexander Legendre. 

Orleans—C. Roselius, W. C. C. Claiborne, 
John Culbertson, H. B. Cenas, Emile La Sere, 

A. Mazureau, P. Soule, George Eustis, J. P. 
Benjamin, B. Marigny. 

Jefferson—F. B. Conrad. 

St. Charles—O. St. Amant. 

St. John the Baptist—A. Boudousquie. 

St. James—A. B. Roman, Benj. Winchester. 
Ascension—H. B. Trist. 

Assumption—M. Taylor, Marcelin Bourg. 
Lafourche Interior—John C. Beatty, Justin 
Aubert, George S, Guion. 

Terrebonne—V. P. Winder. 

Iberville—Zenon LaBauve. 

East Baton Rouge—A. Read, A. Waddill. 
West Baton Rouge—J. McCalop. 

West Feliciana—J. B. Wederstrandt, Cyrus 
Ratliff. 

East Feliciana—Lafayette Saunders, A. M. 
Dunn. 

St. Helena-- -—• 

Livingston—A. H. McRea. 

Washington—William Brumfield. 

St. Tammany—Terrence Carriere. 

Pointe Coupee—Zenon Ledoux, jr. 
Concordia. Tensas, Madison, Carroll, and 
that part of Franklin formerly attached to tire 
parish of Madison—R. J. Chambliss, Thomas 

B. Scott. 

i 


•a 







2 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


St. Mary—Alexander R. Splanc. 

St. Martin—P. Briant, J. B. Derbes. 

Lafayette—Robert Cade, I). O’Bryan. 

St. Landry and Calcasieu—William M. Pres¬ 
cott, S. W. Wikoff, G. Hudspeth, G. R. King, 
R. Taylor. 

Avoyelles—Pierre Couvillon, Willis B. Pres¬ 
cott. 

Rapides—Robt. C. Ilynson, James F. Brent. 

Natchitoches—Plianor Prudhomme. 

Caddo and De Soto—Thomas C. Porter. 

Sabine—1). Stephens. 

Ouachita, Union, Caldwell, and that part of 
the parish of Franklin formerly attached to the 
parish of Ouachita—I. Garret, J. Humble. 

Catahoula, and that pert of the parish of 
Franklin formerly attached to the parish of 
Catahoula—G. Mayo. 

Claiborne and Bossier—G. W. Peets. 

Mr Claiborne moved to record the name ot 
Charles M. Conrad, now absent, as a dele¬ 
gate from the parish of Orleans. 

Mr Soule moved that the names of Messrs 
J. B. Plauche and Noel Jourdan, now absent, 
be recorded, as delegates from the parish ol 
Orleans. 

Mr Wilcoxson presented a certificate of 
election, as delegate for the parish of Ver¬ 
million. 

On motion of Mr Guion, it was ordered that 
the roll be called and that the delegates answer 
to their names, when it appeared that the fol¬ 
lowing member were present, to wit 

Gilbert Leonard, John R. Grymes, Isaac T. 
Preston, Felix Garcia, Duncan F. Kenner, 
Thomas Pugh, Cornelius Voorliies, Thomas H. 
Lewis, Joseph Walker, B. B. Brazeale, S. W. 
Downs, Pierre Porclie, Thomas W. Chinn, W. 
B. Scott, M. G. Penn, Thos. W. Scott, Thos. 
M. Wadsworth, Alexander Legendre, C. Kose- 
lius, W. C. C. Claiborne, John Culbertson, PI. 
B. Cenas, Emile La Sere, Adolphe Mazureau, 
Pierre Soule, George Eustis, J. P. Benjamin, 
Bernard Marigny, F. B. Conrad, Onesifort St. 
Amant, Antoine Boudousquie, A. B. Roman, 
Benjamin Winchester, ILore B. Trist, M. Tay¬ 
lor, Marcelin Bourg, John C. Beatty, Justin 
Aubert, George S. Guion, V. P. Winder, Zenon 
LaBauve, James McCalop, A. Read, A. Wad- 
dill, John B. Wederstrandt, Cyrus Ratliff, La¬ 
fayette Saunders, A. M. Dunn, A. PI. McRea, 
'William Brumfield, Terrence Carriere, Zenon 
Ledoux, jr., Robert J. Chambliss, Thomas B. 
Scott, Alexander R. Splane, P. Briant, J. B. 
Derbes, Robert Cade, D. O’Bryan, William M. 
Prescott, S. W. Wikoff, G. Hudspeth, George 
R. King, Robert Taylor, Pierre Couvillon, 
Willis B. Prescott, Robert C. Hynson, James 
F» Brent, Phanor Prudhomme, D. Stephens, 
Thomas C. Porter, Isaiah Garrett, Jacob Hum¬ 
ble, George Mayo, G. W. Peets, Loyd Wilcox¬ 
son. 


Mr Penn presented the following resolution 
which was read and adopted, viz. 

Resolved , That a committee, composed of 
five members, be appointed lor the purpose of 
enquiring into and reporting upon the right ot 
the several persons claiming seats as members 
of this Convention as evidenced by the returns 
of the proper officer, and that said committee 
be instructed to report to-morrow morning. 

The President pro tem. appointed Messrs. 
Gilbert Leonard, Thomas H. Lewis, Thomas 
W. Scott, II. B. Trist and B. Winchester on 
said committee. 

Mr Thomas W. Chinn presented the follow* 
ing resolution, which was read:— 

Resolved ,, That the rules which have been 
adopted for the government of the House of 
Representatives of the State of Louisiana, be 
adopted temporarily for the government of this 
Convention, as far as the same may be practi¬ 
cable. 

Mr Leocard presented the following as a 
substitute to Mr Chinn’s resolution :— 

Resolved , That a committee of three mem¬ 
bers be appointed to examine the rules which 
have been adopted for the government of the 
House of Representatives of the State of 
Louisiana, and report on to-morrow such parts 
thereof sa they may deem the best adapted for 
the government ol this Convention. 

Said foregoing substitute was read and 
adopted, and the President pro itm. appointed 
Messrs LaBauve, Preston and Kenner of said 
committee. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow, at 11 o’clock, A. M. 

Tucsday, 6th August, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn* 
ment. 

MEMBERS PRESENT. 

Messrs Bernard Marigny, President pro tem., 
Leonard, Grymes, Preston, Garcia, Kenner, 
Pugh, Voorliies, Lewis, Walker, Brazeale, 
Downs, Sellers, Porche, Chinn, W. B. Scott 
of East Baton Rouge, Penn, Thomas W. Scott 
of East Feliciana, Wadsworth, Legendre, Ro- 
selius, Claiborne, Culbertson, Cenas, Mazu¬ 
reau, Soule, Eustis, Benjamin, La Sere, F. B. 
Conrad of Jefferson, St. Amant, Roman, Win¬ 
chester, Trist, Miles Taylor of Assumption, 
Bourg, Beatty, Aubert, Guion, Winder, La- 
Bauve, McCalop, Read, Waddill, Wederstrandt, 
Rati iff) Saunders, Dunn, McRea, Brumfield, 
Carriere, Zenon Ledoux, jr., Chambliss, Thos. 
B. Scott of Madison, Splane, Briant, Derbes, 
Cade, O’Bryan, Wilcoxson, William M. Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Wikoff, Hudspeth, King, 
Robert Taylor of St. Landry, Couvillon, Willis 
B. Prescott of Avoyelles, Llynson, Brent, 
Prudhomme, Stephens, Porter, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Mayo and Peets. 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 3 


Mr LaBauve. of the committee appointed to 
examine the rules which have been adopted for 
the government of the House of Representa¬ 
tives of the State of Louisiana and to report 
such parts thereof as they may deem best adapt¬ 
ed for the government of this Convention, made 
the following report, 

Which, on motion of Mr Kenner, the Con¬ 
vention proceeded to read, article by article, 
and the sense of the Convention taken thereon, 
viz :— 

RULES AND ORDERS OF THE CON¬ 
VENTION. 

TOUCHING THE DUTY OF THE RRESIDENT. 

1. He shall take the chair every day, at the 
hour to which the Convention shall have ad¬ 
journed on the preceding day; shall immedi¬ 
ately call the members to order, and on the 
appearance of a quorum, shall cause the journal 
of the preceding day to be read. Adopted. 

2. He shall preserve order and decorum; 
may speak to points of order in preference to the 
members, rising from his seat for that purpose, 
and shall decide questions of order, subject to 
an appeal to the Convention by any two mem¬ 
bers, on which appeal no member shall speak 
more than once, unless by leave of the Con¬ 
vention. Adopted. 

3. He shall |rise to put a question, but may 
state it sitting. Adopted. 

4. Questions shall be distinctly put in this 
form, to wit: “ As many of you as are of opinion 
that, [as the question may be,] say aye.” And 
after the affirmative voice is expressed—“As 
many of you as are of a contraay opinion, say 
no.” If the President doubts, or if a division 
be called for, the Convention shall divide; 
those in the affirmative of the question shall 
rise from their seats, and afterwards those in the 
negative. The President shall then rise and 
stase the decision of the Convention. Adopted. 

5. All committees shall be appointed by the 
President, unless otherwise specially directed 
by the Convention, in which case they shall be 
appointed ba ballot, and if upon such ballot the 
number required shall not be elected by a ma¬ 
jority of the votes given, the Convention shall 
proceed to further ballot or ballots, until a ma¬ 
jority be obtained. 

Mr Penn moved to amend the foregoing 5th 
article by striking out after the words ‘ in 
which case they shall he appointed,’ the words 
‘ hy ballot, ’ and inserting in their lieu the words 
4 by a viva voce vote of the Convention ,’ and 
striking out after the words 4 and if upon such’ 
the word 4 ballot ,’ and inserting in its stead the 
word 4 vote,' and also by further striking out 
after the words 4 a majority of the votes given, 
he Convention shall proceed to,’ the words, 

4 ballot or ballots,’ and inserting in their place 
the word 4 vote.’ 

Said amendments were adopted, and the 


said foregoing 5th rule was adopted, as thus 
amended. 

6. The President shall have the right to ex- 
amine and correct the journal before it is read. 
He shall have a general direction of the hall. 
He shall have the right to name any member to 
perform the duties of the chair, but such sub¬ 
stitution shall not extend beyond an adjourn¬ 
ment. Adopted. 

7. In cases of ballot by the Convention, the 
President shall vote ; in other cases he shall 
not vote, unless the Convention be equally di¬ 
vided, or unless his vote, if given to the minor¬ 
ity, will make a division equal, and in case of 
such equal division, the question shall be lost. 

Mr Penn moved that the preceding article 
be amended by inserting after the words 44 in 
all cases of ballot,” the words, 44 or viva voce 
vote.” 

Said amendment was adopted, and the said 
7th article was adopted as amended. 

8. In case of any disturbance or disorderly 
conduct in the gallery or lobby, the President 
(or chairman of the Committee of the Whole of 
the Convention) shall have power to order the 
same to be cleared. Adopted. 

9. No person shall be admitted within the 
bar but the members of the Convention, officer s 
of the General or State Government, and such 
other persons as the President may think 
proper to invite to a seat in the Convention.— 
Adopted. 

OF DECORUM AND DEBATE. 

10. When any member is about to speak in 
debate or deliver any matter to the Convention, 
he shall rise from his seat, and respectfully ad¬ 
dress himself to the President. Adopted. 

11. If any member, in speaking or other¬ 
wise, transgress the rules of the Convention,, 
•the President shall, or any member may, call 
to order, in which case the member so called to 
order shall immedtately sit down, unless per¬ 
mitted to explain ; and the Convention shall, 
if appealed to, decide on the case, but without 
debate: if there be no appeal the decision of 
the chair shall be submitted to ; if the decision 
be in favor of the member called to order, he 
shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, 
and the case require it, he shall be liable to the 
censure of the Convention. Adopted. 

12. When two or more members happen to 
rise at once, the President shall name the per¬ 
son who is first to speak. Adopted. 

13* No member shall speak more than twice 
on the same question, without leave of the 
Convention, nor more than once until every 
member choosing to speak shall have spoken. 
Adopted. 

14. Whilst the President is putting any 
question, or addressing the Convention, none 
shall walk out of or across the Hall; nor, in 
such case, or when a member is speaking, shall 






4 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


entertain private discourse; nor, whilst a 
member is speaking, shall pass between him 
and the chair. 

Mr I jeonard moved to reject the foregoing 
14th rule. His motion was lost, and, on mo¬ 
tion, the same was adopted. 

15. No member shall vote on any question 
in the event of which he is immediately and 
particularly interested; or in any other case 
when he was not present when the question 
was put. 

Mr Chinn moved to amend the foregoing ar¬ 
ticle by adding at its end the words “ without 
the leave of the Convention.” 

Said amendment was adopted, and on motion 
the 15th article was adopted as amended. 

16. Upon a division and count of the Con¬ 
vention, on any question, no member without 
the bar shall be counted. Adopted. 

17. Every member who shall be in the Con¬ 
vention, when a question is put, shall give his 
vote, unless the Convention for special reasons 
shall excuse him. Adopted. 

18. When a motion is made and seconded, 
it shall be stated by the President, or being in 
writing, it shall be handed to the chair and 
read aloud by the Secretary, before debated.— 
Adopted. 

19. Every motion shall be reduced to writing, 
if the President or any member shall desire it. 
Adopted. 

20. After a motion is stated by the Presi¬ 
dent, or read by the Secretary, it shall be deem¬ 
ed to be | in possession of the Convention, but 
may be withdrawn at any time before a decision 
or amendment. Adopted. 

21. When a question is under debate, no 
motion shall be received but to adjourn, to lay 
-on the table, for the previous question, to post¬ 
pone to a day certain, to commit or amend, to 
postpone indefinitely—which several motions 
shall have precedence in the order in which 
they are arranged ; and no motion to postpone 
to a day certain, to commit, or fpostpone inde¬ 
finitely, being decided, shall be again allowed 
on the same day and at the same stage of the 
proposition. Adopted. 

22. A motion {to adjourn shall always be in 
order; that, and the motion to lay on the table, 
shall be decided without debate. Adopted. 

23. All questions shall be put in the order 
they are moved, except that in filling up the 
blanks the largest sum and longest time shall 
be first put. 

Mr Downs moved to amend the foregoing by 
inserting after the words •* all questions,” the 
words “ except those enumerated in rule 21st.” 

Said amendment was adopted; and on mo¬ 
tion the said foregoing 23d rule was adopted as 
.amended. 

24. The previous question shall be in this 
form: ‘‘{Shall the main question be now put?” 


It shall only be admitted when demanded by a< 
majority of the members present, and, until A 
is decided, shall preclude all amendments and 
further debate of the main question, and must 
be decided without debate. Adopted. 

25. When the Convention adjourns every 
member shall keep his seat until the President 
passses the last seat on his way out of the 
Convention. Adopted. 

26. Any member may call for the division of 
a question when the sense will admit of it.—•• 
Adopted. 

27. A motion for commitment, till it is de¬ 
cided, shall preclude all amendment of the 
main question. Adopted. 

28. Motions and reports may be committed 
at the pleasure of the Convention. Adopted. 

27. No new motion or proposition, on a sub¬ 
ject different from that under consideration, 
shall be admitted under color of amendment, 
or as a substitute for the motion or proposition 
under debate. Adopted. 

30. When a motion has been once made or 
carried in the affirmative or negative, it shall 
be in order for any member of the majority to 
move for the reconsideration thereof: Provided 
it is made on the same day, or at the next sit¬ 
ting day before the order of the day is taken 
up. Adopted. 

31. When the reading of a paper is called 
for, and the same is objected to by aay member, 
it shall be determined by a vote of the Con¬ 
vention. Adopted. 

32. The unfinished business in which the 
Convention was engaged at the time of the 
last adjournment, shall have the preference in 
the orders of the day; and no mot ion, or any 
other business, shall be received, withont spe¬ 
cial leave of the Convention, until the former 
is disposed of. Adopted, 

33. In all other cases of ballot a majority of 
the votes given shall be necessary to an elec¬ 
tion ; and when there shall not be such a ma¬ 
jority on the first ballot, the ballot shall be re¬ 
peated until a majority be obtained. Adopted. 

34. In all cases when others than members 
of the Convention may be eligible there shall 
be a previous nomination. Adopted. 

35. If a question depending be lost by ad¬ 
journment of the Convention, and revived on 
the succeeding day, no member who has spoken 
twice on the day preceding shall be again per¬ 
mitted to speak without leave. Adopted. 

36. Any five members (including the Presi¬ 
dent) shall be authorizedjx) compel the attend¬ 
ance of absent members. Adopted. 

37. Upon calls of the Convention, or in ta¬ 
king the yeas and nays on any question, the 
names of the members shall be called alpha¬ 
betically. Adopted. 

38. Any member may excuse himself from 
serving on any committee at the time of his 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


5 


appointment, if ho is then a member of other 
committees. Adopted. 

39. No member shall absent himself from 
the service of the Convention unless he have 
leave, or be sick and unable.-to attend. Adopt¬ 
ed, 

40. In order to- insure the punctual’ attend¬ 
ance ^of the members, a call shall take place at 
the commencement of every day’s sitting-,, by 
the Secretary, who- shall noto the absentees, 
but shall remove the notes from the names of 
such members as appear in the course of that 
day’s sitting;, the names of those who do not 
attend shall be entered on the journal, and they 
shall receive no salary for that day, unless ex¬ 
cused by the Convention. Adopted. 

41. A Sergeant-at-Arms shall be appointed, 
to hold his office during the pleasure of the 
Convention, whose duty it shall be to attend 
the Convention during its sittings, to execute 
the commands of the Convention, from time 
to time, together with all such process issued 
by authority thereof, as shall be directed to 
him by the President. Adopted. 

42. It shall he the duty of the Committee of 
Elections to examine and report upon the cer¬ 
tificate of election or other credentials of the 
members returned to serve in this Convention, 
and to take into consideration all such peti¬ 
tions and other matters touching elections and 
returns, as shall or may be presented or come 
in question, and be referred to them by the 
Convention, and on any other matter in relation 
to the manner, times and places of holding 
elections. 

Mr Lewis moved to amend the foregoing rule 
by erasing the words, “ it shall be the duty of 
the Committee of Elections,” and inserting in 
their stead the words, “there shall be a Com¬ 
mittee of Elections, whose duty it shall be.” 

Said amendment was adopted, and on mo¬ 
tion the said 42d article was also adopted as 
amended. 

43. It shall be the duty of the committee of 
claims to take into consideration all such peti¬ 
tions and matters or things, touching claims on 
the Convention, as shall be presented, or shall 
or may come in question, and be referred to 
them by the Convention, and to report their 
opinion thereupon together with such propo¬ 
sitions for payment as to them as shall seem 
expedient. 

On motion of Mr Ratcliff, the preceding 
rule was amended by erasing the words, “Tt 
shall be the duty of the” and substituting in 
their place the words “ there shall be a com¬ 
mittee of contingent expenses composed of three 
members.” 

Pending the discussion of the foregoing, Mr 
Grymes moved that it, as well as all the bal¬ 
ance of the said report which was as follows, 


be read without taking any action upon tha dif¬ 
ferent articles, viz : 

44. No committee shall sit during the sittino* 
of the Convention without special leave. 

45; No standing rule or order of the Conven- 
tion shall be rescinded without one day’s no¬ 
tice being given of the- motion thereof. 

46. The- Secretary of the Convention shall 
take an oath- for the true and faithful discharge 
of the duties of his office, to the best of his 
knowledge and abilities ; and shall be deem¬ 
ed to continue in office until another be ap¬ 
pointed. He shall enter into the journal all 
motions an which a vote of the Convention 
shall have been taken. 

47. All questions of order shall be noted by 
the Secretary with the decision and put togeth¬ 
er at the end of the journal of every sitting. 

48. The Secretary shall not suffer any re¬ 
cords or papers to be taken from the-table or 
out of.his custody by any member or other per¬ 
son. 

49. No standing rule or order of the Con- 
vention shall in any case be suspended or- dis¬ 
pensed with without the concurrence of four- 
fifths of the members present. 

50. It shall be a standing order of the day, 
throughout the session, for the Convention to 
resolve itself into a committee of the whole- 
Covention, pending the discussion of any arti¬ 
cle, section or amendment of the Constitution. 

51. In forming the committee of the whole 
the President-shall leave the chair (and a chair¬ 
man to preside in committee) shall be appoint¬ 
ed by the President. 

52. In the committee of the whole Conven*. 
tion, the ayes and nays shall not be called. 

53. In all cases, to which the above rules 
will not apply, the Jefferson’s Manual shall go¬ 
vern the Convention. 

54. Every member in addressing the Con¬ 
vention shall confine himself strictly to the 
subject matter under debate and the address 
of no member to the Convention shall exceed 
ane horny unless by special permission of the 
Convention. 

55. The documents ordered to be printed by 
the Convention shall be printed on paper of 
the same size of the printed journal of this 
Convention, and a copy shall be bound with 
each journal, to be furnished to the members 
of the Convention at the end of the session, 
and it shall be the duty of the printer of the 
Convention to print one hundred additional co¬ 
pies ordered to be printed for the above pur¬ 
pose.. 

Mr Soul'e moved to amend the 54th rule by 
striking out after the words “ the address of 
no member to the Convention shall exceed ” 
the words “ one hour ” and by substituting in 
their lieu the words “ half an hour.“ 

Pending the debate on said amendment, 

2. 







(> Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


On motion of Mr Ratliff, the said 54th rule 
and the amendment proposed thereto, were laid 
on the table till the organization 01 the Con¬ 
vention. 

Mr Walker moved to amend the 55th rule 
by striking out after the words- “at the end of 
the session, and it shall be the duty of the prin¬ 
ter of the Convention to print “ the word 
“ one “ and by inserting in its place the word 
“ five.“ 

Pending the discussion on said amendment, 

On motion of Mr Grymes, from and includ¬ 
ing the 43d rule to and including the 55th rule 
were laid on the table till the organization of 
the Convention. 

Mr Penn presented the following resolution 
which was read, viz: 

Resolved , That the Convention proceed in- 
stanter to the election of a President and Se¬ 
cretary, and that all persons claiming to be 
members and who have presented prima facie 
evidence of their right by the certificate of 
the proper returning officers—and provided 
moreover, that in all other cases where it is 
generally known, that a member has been duly 
elected, and his right to a seat not contested— 
shall have the right to vote. 

The President pro. term . decided that the said 
foregoing resolution was out of order. 

Mr O’Bryan presented the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz: 

Resolved , That this assembly, the Delegates 
to the Convention, do reconsider the vote taken 
on the resolution passed on Monday, the 5th 
inst., empowering the President pro. tern, to ap¬ 
point a committee to be composed of five mem¬ 
bers, called a committee of elections, to re¬ 
port on the fact relative to elections in general 
of members to this Convention. 

Said resolution was read and rejected. 

Mr Leonard, of the Committee of Elections, 
made the following report, viz : 

The Committee appointed for the purpose of 
examining into and reporting upon the right 
of the several persons claiming seats, as mem¬ 
bers of this Convention, as evidenced by the 
returning of the proper officers, report: 

That from an inspection of the returns of 
elections submitted to them, the follovviug per¬ 
sons appear to be elected to this Convention, 
and entitled to their seats therein:— 

Gilbert Leonard, for the 1st Senatorial District. 
John R. Grymes, “ 

Isaac T. Preston, “ 

D F. Kenner “ 

Thomas Pugh, “ 

Cornelius Voorheis “ 

Thomas H. Lewis, “ 

James Walker, “ 

Solomon W. Downs 
Pierre Porche, 1 “ 

T. W. Chinn, 


M. G. Penn, for the Parishes of Washington, 
St. Helena, St. Tammany and Livingston. 
T. W. Scott, for the Parishes of East and West 
Feliciana. 

M. B. Sellers, for the county of Concordia. 

W. B. Scott, “ parish of E. Baton Rouge 

Representative Delegates. 

T. M. Wadsworth, parish of Plaquemines. 
Alex. Lejendre, “ St. Bernard. 
Pierre Soule, H. B. Cenas, B. Marigny, George 
Eustis, C. Roselius, C. M. Conrad, W. C. 
C. Claiborne, A. Mazereau, J. P. Benja¬ 
min, John Culbertson, for the parish of 
Orleans. 

F. B- Conrad, parish of Jefferson. 

O. St. Amant, “ St. Charles. 

A. Bondousquie, “ St John the Baptist. 

A. B. Roman and Benj. Winchester, parish of 
St. James. 

H. B. Trist, parish of Ascension. 

Miles Taylor and M. Bourg, parish of Assump¬ 
tion. 

J. C. Beatty, J. Aubert and Geo. S. Guion, pa¬ 
rish of Lafourche, Interior. 

V. P. Winder, parish of Terrebonne. f 
Zenon Labauve, parish of Iberville. 

Jas. McCalop, “ W. Baton Rouge. 

A. Read and A.Waddill,parish E. BatonRouge. 
Cyrus Ratliff and J. B. Wederstrandt, parish 
of West Feliciana. 

Lafayette Saunders and Alex. M. Dunn, pa¬ 
rish of East Feliciana. 

Wm. Brumfield, parish of Washington. 

A. H. McRea, “ Livingston. 

T. Carriere, “ St. Tammany. 

Z. Ledoux, “ Pointe Coupee. 

A. R. Splane, “ St. Mary. 

Paul Briant and J. B. Derbes, parish St. Martin. 
Robert Cade, parish of Lafayette. 

Wm. M. Prescott, S. W. Wikoff, G. Hudspeth, 
G. R. King, and Robert Taylor, parish of 
St. Landry. 

Pierre Couvillon and Willis B. Prescott, parish 
of Avoyelles. 

R. C. Hynson and James F. Brent, parish of 
Rapides. 

W. D. Stephens, parish of Sabine. 

Thomas C. Porter, “ Caddo and Desoto. 
George Mayo, parish of Catahoula, and that 

part of the parish of Franklin formerly 
attached to the parish of Catahoula. 

George W. Peets, parishes of Claiborne and 
Bossier. 

Lloyd Wilcoxon, parish of Vermillion, 

There being no returns from any other por¬ 
tion of the State your committee beg leave to 
submit the foregoing partial report, and beg 
leave to sit again 

The committee deem it incumbent on them 
to remark, that in the conclusions to which they 
have arrived they have been governed by pri¬ 
ma fade evidence. 


2d “ 

3d 

County of Acadia. 

“ Lafourche. 

“ Attakapas. 

“ Opelousas. 

“ Rapides. 

“ Ouachita. 

“ Pointe Coupee. 
“ Iberville. 







Journal oj ttie Convention of Louisiana , 


7 


They considered their action as preparatory 
wanly to the organization of the Convention, 
.their intention being to leave all contested elec¬ 
tions entirely open for investigation after the 
body shall be organized. 

(Signed) G. LEONARD, 
Chairman of the Committee. 

Mr Grymes moved to refer the said report 
'hack to the committee with instructions to re¬ 
cognize all persons presenting themselves on 
. honor as members elect of this Convention and 
whose seat are not contested as members, and 
to report accordingly. 

Mr Guion moved to amend Mr Grymes’ mo¬ 
tion by adding after the words “with instruc¬ 
tions to recognize all persons “ the words 
“ whose names .have not been inserted in the 
report." 

Mr Guion‘s amendment was adopted. 

And Mr Grymes 4 motion was adopted as 
• amended. 

Mr Soule moved that the Convention adjourn 
till to-morrow at 10 o'clock, A. M. 

His motion was lost. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till to- 
imorrow at 9 o'clock, A. M. 


Wednesday, August 7th, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Members present—Messrs. Joseph Walker, 
president; Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
.quie, Bourg, Brazeale* Brent, Burton, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade. Carriere, Genas, Chambliss, 
; Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou- 
villon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hyn- 
son, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, La- 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Mc- 
<Calop, McRea, Marigny, Mazureau, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
.Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Ro- 
selius, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of £ Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff, Winchester, Winder, Waddill. 

Mr Leonard of the Committee of Elections 
unade the following report, viz : 

The committee appointed for the purpose of 
examining into and reporting upon the right of 
the several persons claiming seats as members 
of this Convention as evidenced by the returns 
of the proper officers, report: 

That from an inspection of the returns of 
elections submitted to them, the following per¬ 
sons appear to be elected to this Convention 
and entitled to their seats therein: 

Gilbert Leonard, for the 1st Senatorial District. 
John R. Grymes, “ 2d “ “ 


Isaac T. Preston, for the 3d Senatorial District. 

D. F. Kenner, “ county of Acadia. 

Thos. Pugh, “ “ Lafourche. 

Cornelius Voorhies, “ “ Attakapas. 

Thos. H. Lewis, “ “ Opelousas. 

Jos. Walker, “ “ Rapides. 

Solomon W. Downs,“ “ Ouachita. 

Pierre Porche, “ “ Pointe Coupee. 

T. W. Chirm, " “ Iberville. 

M. G. Penn, for the parishes of Washington, 
St. Helena, St. Tammany, and Living¬ 
ston. 

T. W. Scott, for the Parishes of East and West 
Feliciana. 

W. B. Sellers, for the county of Concordia. 

W. B. Scott, for the parish of East Baton 
Rouge. 

REPRESENTATIVE DELEGATES. 

T. M. Wadsworth, for the parish of Plaque¬ 
mines. 

Alex. Legendre, for the parish of St. Bernard. 

Pierre Soule, H. B. Cenas, B. Marigny, Geo. 
Eustis, C. Roselius, C. M. Conrad, W. 
C. C. Claiborne, A. Mazureau, J. P. Ben¬ 
jamin, Jolih Culbertson, for the parish of 
Qrleans. 

F. B. Conrad, for the parish of Jefferson. 

O. St. Amant, “ “ St. Charles. 

Ant. Boudousquie, for the parish of St. John 
the Baptist. 

A. B. Roman and Benj. Winchester, for the 
parish of St. James. 

H. B. Trist, for the parish of Ascension. 

Miles Taylor and M. Bourg, for the parish of 
Assumption. 

J. C. Beatty, J. Aubert, and Geo. S. Guion, for 
the parish of Lafouche Interior. 

V. P. Winder, for the parish of Terrebonne. 

Zenon Labauve, for the parish of Iberville. 

James McCalop, “ “ ■ West Baton 

Roime. 

A. Read, and A. Waddill, for the parish of E. 
Baton Rouge. 

Cyrus Ratliff, and J. B. Wederstrandt, for the 
parish of West Feliciana. 

Lafayette Saunders, and A. Dunn, for the pa- 
East Feliciana. 

A. H. McRae, for the parish of Livingston. 

Wm. Brumfield, “ “ Washington. 

T. Carriere, “ “ St. Tammany. 

Z. Ledoux, “ “ Pointe Coupee. 

A. R. Splane, “ “ St. Mary. 

Paul Briant, and J. B. Derbes, for the parish of 
St. Martin. 

Robert Cade, for the parish of Lafayette. 

Wm. M. Prescott, S. W. Wikoff, G. Hudspeth, 
G. R. King, and Robert Taylor, for the 
parish of St. Landry. 

Pierre Couvillon, and Wm. B. Prescott, for 
the parish of Avoyelles. 

R. C. Hynson, and James F. Brent, for the pa¬ 
rish of Rapides. 








8 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


W. D. Stephens, for the parish of Sabine. 
Thomas C. Porter, for the parishes of Caddo 
and DeSoto. 

George J^Iayo, for the parish of Catahoula and 
that part of the parish of Franklin former¬ 
ly attached to the parish of. Catahuula. 
George W. Peets, for the parish of Claiborne 
and Bossier. 

Lloyd Wilcoxon, for the parish of Vermillion. 

There being no other returns from any oth¬ 
er part of the State, your committee beg leave 
to submit the foregoing partial report, and beg 
leave to sit again. 

The committee deem it incumbent on them 
to remark that in the conclusions to which 
they have arrived they have been governed by 
prima facie evidence. 

They considered their action as preparatory 
only to the organization of the Convention, 
their intention being to leave all contested elec¬ 
tions entirely open for investigation after the 
body shall be organized. 

(Signed.) G. LEONARD, 
Chairman of the Committee. 

Your committee further report that in com¬ 
pliance with the resolutions, referring back to 
the foregoing report with instructions, they 
find the following persons elected to serve in 
the Convention of the State of Louisiana, to- 
wit: 

B. B. Brazeale, of the county of Natchitoches. 
Felix Garcia, “ “ Germain Coast. 

Phanor Prudhomme, parish of Natchitoches. 
T. B. Scott and R. J. Chambliss, of the parishes 

of Concordia, Madison, Carroll and Tensas. 
Jacob Humble, and Isaiah Garrett, of the pa¬ 
rishes of Ouachita, Union, Caldwell and 
that part of the parish of Franklin form¬ 
erly attached to the parish of Ouachita. • 

No member for the parish of St. Helena has 
yet presented himself, nor have we any return 
from said parish, being the only parish as yet 
unrepresented. All which is respectfully sub¬ 
mitted. (Signed.) G. LEONARD, 

Chairman of the Committee. 

Mr Voorhies on behalf of Messrs. Bryan and 
Wilcoxon, informed the Convention that both 
those gentlemen would withdraw from the Hall 
of the Convention until its organization. 

Mr Chinn moved that the Convention pro¬ 
ceed by ballot to the election of a President. 
His motion prevailed. 

Mr Winchester informed the Convention 
that Mr A. B. Roman was not a candidate for 
Presidency of the Convention. 

The Convention proceeded by ballot to the 
election of a President. 

Seventy-four delegates being present and the 
votes being polled 

Mr Lewis moved that two tellers be appoint¬ 
ed, and the President pro. tern, appointed 
Messrs Lewis and Voorhies. 


The votes being counted it appeared that; 

Joseph Walker had received . 

28 votesj 

Felix Garcia ... . . . 

28 “ 

Bernard Marigny, . . . . 

8 “ 

Thos. M. Wadsworth, . . . 

3 “ 

John R. Grymes,.. 

4 « 

Geo. S. Guion,. 

O « 

Geo. Eustis,, . - . 

l, “ 

74, votes. 


No majority was given on this ballot. 

Mr Garcia then informed the Convention that* 
he was no longer a candidate. 

Mr Marigny also informed the Convention 
that he was no longer a candidate. 

Mr Chinn then nominated Mr J. R. Grymes - 
as a candidate. And 

Mr Penn nominated Mr Joseph Walker; and- 1 : 

On motion, the • Convention'proceeded to a. 
second ballot for President. 

The same tellers were again appointed, ancL 
on counting the votes it appeared that 

Walker had received ... 36 votes. 

Grymes, .35 

Blank,.3 “ 

Total, ..64 votes.. 

There not being a majority. 

On motion,-the Convention proceeded to* a 
third ballot. 

The same tellers were again appointed. 

The votes being counted it appeared that 

Walker had received ... 37 votes.. 

Grymes,.36 “ 

Blank,. ..- . 1 “ 

Total,-..74 votes. 

Mr Wadsworth informed the Convention that* 
Messrs Walker and Grymes would retire from*, 
the Hall, and would be absent till the election 
was over. 

Seventy-two Delegates being present.. 

On motion, the Convention proceeded to & 
fourth ballot. 

The same tellers having again been appoint¬ 
ed, and the votes having been counted, it ap¬ 
peared that 

Walker had received .. . .. 38 votes. 

Grymes, .......... 34 “ 

Total, ........ 72 votes. 

Mr Joseph Walker having received the ma¬ 
jority required, was declared duly elected Pres¬ 
ident of the Convention. 

On motion of Mr Leonard, the president elect' 
was called to the Chair by the president pro., 
tern. 

Mr Leonard then moved that the Convention 
proceed to the election, by ballot, of a Secre¬ 
tary. His motion prevailed. And 

Mr H. B. Trist nominated Mr Theodul» 
Landry as a candidate. 














Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr T. H. Lewis nominated Mr Horatio Da 
vis as a candidate. And 

Mr A. M. Dunn nominated Mr John E. King 
as a candidate. 

Seventy-four members being present. 

The votes being deposited, the president ap¬ 
pointed Messrs Voorhies and Ratliff as tellers. 
And on counting the votes the result was, that 
Horatio Davis had received . 43 votes. 

T. Landry,.23 u 

J. E. King, ....... 7 

Blank,.. . 1 u 


Mr Ratliff nominated MrEugeneRemondet. 
Seventy-four members being present. 

The votes being deposited, the president ap¬ 
pointed Messrs Ratliff and Mayo as Tellers; 
and, on counting the votes, the result was, that 
Mr Carpenter had received 23 votes. 

“* Remondet “ 18 “ 

“ Saucier “ 16 

Gras “ 11 

Major “ 6 


44 


a 


a 


Li 


a 


Total,.74 votes. 

Mr Davis having obtained a majority of votes 
was declared duly elected secretary. 

Mr Penn presented the following resolution, 
which was read, viz : 

Resolved T That the following oath or affir¬ 
mation be administered to each and every mem¬ 
ber of this Convention, viz : 

do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially discharge 
the duties incumbent upon me, as a member 
of this Convention, to the'best of my abilities 
and understanding; and I,-, do fur¬ 

ther swear (or affirm), that I will support the 
Constitution of the United States.. So help me 
God. 

Mr Saunders move*d to reject the said, reso¬ 
lution, and 

Mr Ratliff called for the yeas^ and nays on; 
Mr Saunders’ motion. 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Briant, Conrad, Dunn, Downs, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, Ledoux, Lejendre, Leonard, McRea, Mazu- 
reau, Peets Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, St Amant, Saunders, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Weder 
strandt, Winchester and Wikoff, voted in the 
affirmative—38 Yeas; and 

Messrs Brazeale, Brent, Cade Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne Cuvillon, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Hynson, Hudespeth, Hum¬ 
ble, King, Labauve, Lewis, McCalop, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Mayo,- Penn,. Porche, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, Ratliff, Read, 
Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Soule,, Ste¬ 
vens, Taylor, Voorhies Winder and Waddill— 
35 Nays. 

Mr Saunders’motion consequently prevailed. 

Mr Wadsworth moved that the 1 Convention 
proceed to ballot for a sergeant-at-armsv 

His motion prevailed, and 

Mr Lewis nominated Mr James Carpenter;, 
as a candidate. 

Mr Ledoux nominated Mr Jules Major. 

Mr Wadsworth nominated Mr Descoteaux 
Saucier. 

Mr Voorhies nominated Mr Antoine Gras. 


Total, 74 votes. 

None of the candidates having received a 
majority of votes, 

On motion,.the Convention proceeded to a se¬ 
cond ballot. 

The President appointed the same Tellers, 
and on counting the votes it appeared, that 


Mr Carpentier- had received 

30 votes. 

“ Remondet 

a 

23 “ 

“ Saucier 

a 

16 “ 

“ Major 

u 

3 “ 

“ Gras 

44 

2 “ 


Total, - - 74 votes. 

None of the candidates having yet received 
a majority, 

On motion, the Convention proceeded to a 
third ballot. Seventy-three delegates being 
present. 

The same Tellers were appointed ;. and the- 
result was,, that 

Mr Carpenter had received 36 votes. 

“ Remondet “ 33 

“ Saucier 4 


a 


Total, 73 votes. 

No election having taken place, 

Mr Wadsworth informed the Convention that 
Mr Saucier was no longer a candidate, and, 

On motion, the Convention proceeded to a 
fourth ballot. Seventy-four, members present. 

The same Tellers were again appointed, and. 
the result was, that 

Mr Carpenter had received 37 votes. 

“ Remondet “ 37 


44 


Total, - - 74 

There being a. tie, on motion, the Convention 
proceded to a fifth ballot.j 

The President again appointed the same 
Tellers, and the result was,.that 

Mr Carpenter had received 38 votes. 

“ Remondet 34 “• 

“ Blank “• 2 


44 


Total, 74 votes. 

Mr J. Carpenter having obtained a majority 
of votes, was declared duly elected sergeant- 
at-arms of the Convention. 

Mr Saunders presented the following reso¬ 
lution, which was read and adopted, viz : 

3 














10 


Journal of llie Convention of Louisiana. 


Resolved , That a committee of five members 
be appointed, with iustrudtions'to enquire what 
clerks and other officers, and the number, that 
may be necessary to perform the business of 
the Convention, and report to-morrow ; and, 
that said committee also report the compen¬ 
sation to be allowed said clerks and all other 
officers of the Convention. 

The President appointed Messrs Saunders, 
Ratliff, Wadsworth, Brent and Pugh, of said 
committee. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow at 9 o’clock, A M. 


Thursday, August 8, 1844. 

The Convention met, pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Members present: Mr Joseph Walker, pre¬ 
sident; Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bon- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Bziant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillon, Cplbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, 
Hynson, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, 
Lebauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
Marigny, McCalop, McRea, Mazureau, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porclie, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
liomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St Amant, Sanders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester, Weder- 
strandt, Winder, Waddill. 

Mr Roman moved that the rales adopted for 
the temporary government of the Convention 
be again re-adopted. 

Mr Grymes moved to amend the motion, by 
adopting the rules temporarily, subject to the 
order of the Convention. 

The motion as amended was adopted, and the 
rules were temporarily adopted, subject to the 
order of the Convention. 

Mr Saunders, of the committee appointed for 
the purpose of inquiring what officers and 
clerks were necessary for the transaction of 
the business of the Convention, made the fol¬ 
lowing report, which was read, viz : 

The committee, to whom was referred the 
resolution of yesterday relative to the number 
of officers to be employed by the Convention 
and their compensation, and the compensation 
of all other officers of the Convention, report 
that they recommend the appointment of a 
door-keeper ; three translating clerks—one, 
from French into English, and two, from Eng¬ 
lish into French; one recording clerk; two 
reporters ; and one printer. They recommend 
the following compensation, estimated by the 
•allowance made to officers performing the same 


duties in the Senate and House of Represen¬ 
tatives. To the secretary fifteen dollars a day, 
to sergeant-at-arms, door-keeper and clerks 
each six dollars a day, and to the reporters 
each eight dollars a day. The committee hav¬ 
ing no data on which to estimate the labor to 
be°done by the printer or its value, submit to 
the House the compensation to be paid him for 
his services. (Signed,) L. SAtTNJ3ERS. 

Mr Guion moved to amend the report, by 
reducing the number of translators to two. 

Mr Beatty moved to amend Mr Gu ions’ 
amendment by designating one of the transla¬ 
tors as a minute clerk. 

Mr Downs moved to divide the motion made 
by Mr Guion from the amendment offered by 
Mr Beatty. 

This motion prevailed and Mr Guion’e 
amendment was lost; consequently, Mr Beatty’s 
amendment, to designate one of the translators 
as a minute clerk, was lost. 

Mr Roselius moved to amend the report by 
reducing the number of reporters, from two to 
one. 

This amendment was lost. 

Mr Downs moved to amend the report by re¬ 
quiring of the reporters to assist each other. 

The amendment was adopted. 

Mr Conrad moved to amend, by requiring 
that one of the reporters should report in Eng¬ 
lish and the dther in French. 

The amendment was adopted. 

Mr Roselius moved to amend the report by 
striking out, after the words “ to the secretary,” 
the word “fifteen” and inserting in its place 
the word “ ten .” 

Mr Claiborne moved to amend Mr Roselius’ 
motion by inserting the word “ twelve.” in¬ 
stead of the word “ ten.” 

Mr Guion moved to amend Mr Claiborne’s 
amendment, by moving that the word “fifteen” 
be stricken out, and leaving the compensation 
m blank. 

Mr McRea called for the yeas and nays <©n 
MrfiGuion’s amendment, and the result was, 
that 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss.Chinn,Claiborne,Conrad of Jefferson, 
Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, LaBauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, McC&lop, McRea, 
Mayo, Penn, Porter, Preston, Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amant, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted in favor of it—44 ayes. 

Messrs Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Cenas, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Hyn¬ 
son, Ledoux, Leonard, Marigny, Peets, Porche, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Saunders, Scott of 










11 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Waddill, voted against it—30 navs. 

Mr Guion’s amendment was consequently 
carried. 

Mr Downs moved to amend the report, by 
adding, “ that the secretary receive the same 
salary allowed by law to the secretary of the 
Senate and clerk of the House of Representa¬ 
tives, to be paid to him according to the time 
lie may serve,” and by striking out the words, 
■“a day-” 

Mr Penn moved that the specified sum al¬ 
lowed the secretary be mentioned. 

Mr Downs accepted the amendment. 

The salary granted by law to the secretary 
of the Senate and clerk of the House of Re¬ 
presentatives, is $2000 per annum. 

Mr Conrad called for the yeas and nays on 
Mr Downs’ amendment, and the result was, 
that 

Messrs Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Humble, Ledoux, 
Marigny, McCalop, Porche, Prescott of St 
Landry, Scott of Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, 
Voorhies and Wikoff, voted for its adoption— 
23 ayes. 

Messrs Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Garrett, Guion, Hynson, Hud¬ 
speth, Kenner, King, Eabauve, Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, McRea, Mazureau, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St Amant, Saunders, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St Landry, 
'Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester, Wederstrandt, 
Winder and Waddill, voted against it—51 nays. 

Mr Downs’ amendment was therefore lost. 

Mr Marigny then moved that the blank be 
filled with the word “fourteen.” 

Mr Brent moved to amend Mr Marigny’s 
amendment, by inserting the words “a salary 
of twelve hundred dollars,” and by striking 
.out the words “ a day.” 

Mr Claiborne raised the question of order, 
•whether Mr Brent’s amendment to Mr Marig¬ 
ny’s amendment could be received. 

The President decided that the amendment 
was in order, and could consequently be re¬ 
ceived. 

Mr Claiborne then moved for the previous 
question, and his motion prevailed. 

Mr Lewis called for the yeas and nays on 
Mr Marigny’s amendment, and the following 
was the result, viz : 

Messrs Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss Claiborne, Culbert¬ 
son, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, 


Hynson, Humble, Ledoux, Leonard, Marigny, 
McCalop, Mazureau, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, St Amant, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Scott 
of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assomption, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Wickoff, Winchester and Waddill, voted in its. 
favor—49 ayes. 

Messrs Beatty,Benjamin,Boudousquie,Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Cade,Chinn,Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillon, Derbes, Garrett, Guion, Hud¬ 
speth, Kenner, King,Labauve, Legendre, Lew¬ 
is, McRea, Roselius, Sellers, Taylor of St Lan¬ 
dry, Wederstrandt and Winder, voted against 
it—25 nays. 

Mr Marigny’s amendment was consequently 
adopted. 

And, on motion, the report was adopted as 
amended. 

Mr Ratliff presented the following resolution, 
which was read and adopted. 

Resolved by this Convention , That the Pre¬ 
sident be authorized and requested to give to 
Mr Descoteaux Saucier a warrant for the sum 
of eighteen dollars for his services, as acting 
sergeant-at-arms, during the three first days of 
their session. 

Mr Penn presented the following preamble 
and resolution, viz: 

Whereas, every human teing is infinitely in¬ 
debted to the Great Parent of the Universe 
for the existence and exercise of his moral and 
intellectual endowments, and, consequently, is 
dependent on his divine assistance at all times, 
and especially when engaged in the perform¬ 
ance of high and important duties : 

And, whereas, the Convention which formed 
the Constitution of the United States, and 
both Houses of Congress, as well as many other 
deliberative bodies of this free, enlightened 
and highly favored country, have deemed it fit 
and proper to invoke the divine blessings of 
Heaven upon their deliberations. 

Therefore , be it Resolved , That this Conven¬ 
tion will proceed to the election of a suitable 
divine, to act as Chaplain, whose duty it shall 
be to open the deliberations of the Convention 
every morning by prayer. 

Mr Kenner moved, as a substitute to the re¬ 
solution, the following: 

Resolved , That the president be authorised to 
invite each of the Divines in and about Jack- 
son to daily open and close, in turn, the delibe¬ 
rations of this convention by prayer. 

Mr Brent moved that the said amendment be 
divided, and that from and including the word 
“ resolved “ to and including the word “ open “ 
be the first portion. 

Mr Brent‘s motion was adopted. And the 
said 1st portion of said amendment was adopted. 



12r Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The remainder was adopted after striking 
out the word “ closed 

The resolution was then adopted as amend¬ 
ed. 

Mr Lewis moved to amend the preamble by 
striking out from the second whereas to “ the 
closed 4 

His amendment was adopted ; and the pre¬ 
amble was adopted as amended. 

Mr Wederstandt moved that the covention 
proceed to the election of a door-keeper. 

His motion prevailed. And 

Mr Wadsworth nominated Mr Louis Exni- 
cios as a candidate. 

Mr Waddill nominated Mr J. E. Vance. 

Mr Penn nominated Mr M. Miles. 

Mr Saunders nominated Mr Pilant. 

Mr Wederstrandt nominated Mr Geo. Long. 

Seventy-five members being present. 

The president appointed Messrs Mayo and 
Leonard as tellers. And the result was that 

Louis Exnocios had received; 40 votes. 


Geo. Long, 


44 

24 “ 

Vance, 

U 

tt 

4 “ 

Miles, 

U 

u 

3 “ 

Pilant, 

u 

• 4 

3 “ 

Strattan, 

u 

it 

1 “ 

Total, . . 





Mr Exnicios having obtained the majority re¬ 
quired was declared duly elected door-keeper. 

Mr Claiborne moved that the convention pro¬ 
ceed to the election of a Printer. 

His motion prevailed. And 

Mr Penn nominated Messrs Campbell & 
Graham, editors of the Herald, as candidates. 

Mr Miles Taylor, of Terrebonne, nominated 
Mr J. A.Kelly, editor of the Louisiana Reporter. 

Mr Grymes nominated Mr Jerome Bayon, 
editor of the Louisiana Courier. And 

Mr Ratliff nominated Messrs Douglass &, 
Hawthorn, of the Bayou Sara Ledger. 

The same tellers were again appointed, and 
the result of the election was that 

Kelly had received .... 38 votes. 

Bayon “ “ .... 28 “ 

Campbell & Graham, ... 5 “ 

Douglass & Hawthorn, ... 4 “ 

Total, ?.75 votes. 

Mr Kelly having obtained a majority was 
declared duly elected printer of the Conven¬ 
tion. 

On motion of Mr Downs, the Conveniion 
proceeded to the election of a Recording 
Clerk. 

Mr Rosei’ius nominated Mr Alfred Rousseau 
as a candidate. 

Mr Guion nominated Mr F. B. Richardson. 

Mr Wederstrandt nominated Mr James B. 
Harper. 

Mr McRea nominated Mr Stringer. 


Mr Culbertson nominated D. 0. Nadaud. 

Mr Legendre nominated Victor Reaud. 

Mr Scott of Feliciana, nominated J. E. Ben¬ 
nett. 

Mr Scott of Madison, nominated Mr How¬ 
ell. 

Mr Dunn nominated Henry Skipwith. 

Mr Couvillon nominated Ambrose Lacour. 

Mr Boudousqum nominated Auguste Huard,- 
and 

Mr Mazureau nominated Numa Dufour. 

The president appointed Messrs Mayo and? 
Lewis as tellers. 

The result was that 


Mr Richardson, 

had obtained 

22 

votes.. 

“ Huard 

d 

tt 

12 

44 

“ Nadaud 

tt 

tt 

15 

44 

“ Rousseau 

tt 

tt 

4 

44 

“ Bennett 

tt 

tt 

4 

44 

“ Harper 

tt 

tt 

4 

44 

“ Stringer 

It 

tt 

2 

44- 

“ Reaud 

tt 

tt 

4 

44 

“ Skipwith 

tt 

tt 

3 

44~ 

“ Lacour 

tt 

tt 

2 

44 

“ T. H. Terry 

it 

tt 

2 

44 

Total, 



<75 

votes. 


No one of the candidates having obtained 
the necessary majority the convention proceed¬ 
ed to a second ballot. 

The convention were informed by different 
members, that Messrs Bennett, Rousseau,. 
Reaud. Huard, Lacour and Harper were no* 
longer candidates. 

The president appointed the same delegates 
as tellers, and the result was that 


Mr Richardson had received 

32 votes. 

“ Nadaud 

44 

44 

33 “ 

“ Howell 

44 

44 

3 “ 

“ Skipwith 

44 

44 

3 “ 

“ Stringer 

44 

44 

2 “ 

“ Dufour 

44 

44 

1 “ 

Blank 

44 

» 4 

1 “ 

Total, 

No candidate having obtained 

75 votes, 
a majority, the' 


convention proceeded to a third ballot. 

Seventy-four delegates present. 

The same tellers being again appointed, the 
result was that 

Mr Nadaud had received 38 votes. 

“ Richardson “ 36 “ 

Total, 74 votes. 

Mr Nadaud having received the required ma¬ 
jority was declared duly elected. 

Mr Wadsworth moved that the rules be dis¬ 
pensed with and that the president be author¬ 
ized to appoint the remaining officers required 
by the convention. 

The president having expressed a reluctance 
[ to making the said appointments, and the sense 














13 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


of the convention having been taken, said mo- 
lion was lost. 

Mr Ratliff moved that the convention pro¬ 
ceed to the eleciion of three translating clerks. 

Mr Roselius moved to amend Mr Ratliff’s 
motion by requiring that the tickets should de¬ 
signate the language for which the translators 
were elected. His amendment was lost,* and 
Mr Ratliff’s motion prevailed. 

Mr Downs moved that the three candidates 
who received the highest number of votes on 
the first ballot be declared elected;. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr Roselius nominated Charles Fitz-. as a 
candidate. 

Mr Cade nominated Alexander Derbes. 

Mr Conrad of Jefferson nominated Mr Plan- 
tevigne. 

Mr Trist nominated Mr Ilsley. 

Mr Penn nominated Ed. Lou vet. 

Mr Voorhtes nominated T. MontreuiK 

Mr McCafop nominated Augustin Duplan¬ 
tier. 

Mr Splane nominated Alcide Meyner, and 

Mr Brent nominated St. Cblome Davis. 

Seventy-four delegates present. 

Messrs Ratliff and Lewis were appointed 
tellers, and the result was that 


Mr Montreuil had received 

34 

votes. 

“ Duplantier “ 

44 

32 

4fc 

“ Ilsley “ 

u. 

30 

44 

Mr Lou vet had received 

24 

votes. 

Derbes “ 

a 

24 

a 

“■ Fitz “ 

a 

23 

a 

“■ Meynier “ 

a 

13 

a 

“ Plantevigne 44 

u 

12 

a. 

44 J. Foulhonse 

a 

2 

a 

44 Iluard 

a 

1 

tu 

“ Davis 

u 

13 

a. 

Blank 

a. 

1 

a. 


None of the candidates having obtained the 
necessary majority the convention proceeded to 
a second ballot.. 

The Convention was informed'that Mr Me y- 
aier was no longer a candidate. 

The same tellers were again appointed. 

Mr Montreuil received 48 votes. 


“ Duplantier “ 48 “ 

“ Ilsley “ 32 “ 

“ Derbes “ 24 “ 

“ Lou vet “ 19 “ 

“ St. C. Davis “ S “ 

“ Plantevigne “ 4 “ 


Messrs Montreuil and Duplantier having ob¬ 
tained a majority of votes were declared duly 
elected. 

On motion, the Convention proceeded’to a 
third ballot for a third translating clerk. 

The same tellers were appointed. 

Mr Fitz received 25 votes. 

“ Derbes “ 25 “ 

“ Ilsley 44 12 “ 


None of the candidates having received a 
majority the Convention proceeded to a fourth 
ballot. 

Seventy-three members present. 

The president appointed the same tellers. 

Mr Derbes received 39 votes. 

Fitz “ 30 

Ilsley “ 4 




44 


44 


Total, 73 

Mr Alexander Derbes having received the 
requisite majority of votes was declared duly 
elected. 

Mr Guion moved that the Convention adjourn 
till this evening at 6 o’clock, P. M. 

His motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr Leonard, the convention 
proceeded to elect two reporters. 

Mr Downs nominated Dennis Corcoran as a- 
candidate. 

Mr Mhrigny nominated J. Foulhouze. 

Mr Mazureau nominated Robt. J. Ker. 

Mr Porter nominated Lewis Zim. 

The president appointed the same tellers. 

Mr Ker received 56 votes. 

Foulhouze received 51 

“ Corcoran “ 19 

“ Zim “ 12 

Messrs Ker and Foulhouze having obtained 

a majority of votes were declared duly elected. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow at 9 o’clock, A. M. 


a 


a 


a 


Friday, August 9, 1844. 

The Convention was opened by prayer offered 
by the Rev. Mr. Haggerman. The Convention 
met pursuant to adjournment. 

Members present: Mr Joseph Walker, presi¬ 
dent ; Messrs Aubert,, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou 
dousquie,. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, s 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad, Couvil- 
lon, Culbertson, Derbes,.Downs Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Grymes Guion, Hynson, Hud¬ 
speth, Humble, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, McRae, 
Mazureau, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porehe, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St Amant, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stevens,. 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester, Winder and Waddill. 

Mr Splane, presented the following resolu¬ 
tion, which was read. 

Resolved , That Daniel O’Bryan do now take 
his seat in this Convention, as a member 
thereof. 

On motion of Mr Ratliff, the foregoing re so 

4 





14 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


lution was laid on the table, subject to the call 
of the Convention, 

Mr Labauve moved that the President ap¬ 
point a standing committee, composed of five 
delegates, to be styled the Committee of elec¬ 
tions ; and to whom shall bo referred all mat¬ 
ters connected with elections. 

His motion was adopted, and the President 
appointed Messrs Labauve, Ratliff, Preston, 
Guion and Brent of said committee. 

On motion of Mr Ratlitf, the Convention took 
into consideration the resolution inviting Mr 
O’Bryan to take his seat as a member of the 
Convention. 

On motion of Mr Ratliff the same was refer¬ 
red to the committee on elections, with instruc¬ 
tions to report at as early a day as possible. 

Mr Ratliff offered the following resolution, 
which was read and adopted, viz : 

Resolved, That the President appoint a com¬ 
mittee on contingent expenses of this House, 
composed of five members, whose duty shall 
be to superintend and control the expenditure 
of the House, and to audit and settle all ac¬ 
counts which may be charged therein, and also 
to audit the accounts of the members, for their 
travel to and from the Convention and their at¬ 
tendance in the House. 

The President appointed Messrs Ratliff, 
Saunders, Benjamin, King and Read, of -said 
committee. 

The President submitted the following letter 
which was read, and 

On motion of Mr Claiborne, was referred to 
the committee of contingent expenses. 

Jackson, August 3, 1844. 
To the Hon. President and Members of the ) 
State Convention. ( 

Gentlemen : Believing that the republication 
of the Journal of the Convention of 1811-12 
would be of essential use to the delegates in 
the present Convention, I determined to pub¬ 
lish 500 copies, in pamphlet form, of said Jour¬ 
nal, which I have now the honor of submitting 
to your honorable body. The State Senate, at 
its last session, fully impressed with the neces¬ 
sity of such publication, if I mistake not, or¬ 
dered its printing. I leave it to you, gentle¬ 
men, to determine what you consider a fair com¬ 
pensation for this work. 

I have the honor to be, gentlemen, with high 
respect and consideration, your most obedient 
servant, (Signed;) J. BAYON. 

Mr Beatty moved that the rules adopted for 
the temporary government of the Convention 
as well as those reported by the committee ap¬ 
pointed to report rules for the government of 
the Convention, and which have not yet been 
adopted, be printed, to the the number of one 
hundred copies in English and one hundred 
copies in French. 

His motion was adopted. 


Mr Cenas presented the following resolu 
tion, which was read and adopted. 

Resolved , That places within the bar of the 
House be allowed on the written order of the 
President, to such persons connected with the 
press throughout the State as may be desirous 
of reporting the deliberations and proceedings 
of this Convention. 

Mr Downs presented the following resolution 
which was read •: 

Resolved, That the journals and debates of 
the Convention be printed by the printer of the 
Convention, in the form directed in the rules, 
in English and French, seperately, at least 
three times a week, and oftener if it be neces¬ 
sary. to keep up with the proceedings of the 
Convention; and that each member of the 

Convention be furnished with-copies of 

the journals and debates for distribution among 
his constituents—each member to select copies 
in either language. 

Mr Guion moved to fill the blank in the fore¬ 
going resolution, with the word “ five.” 

Mr Penn moved to amend Mr Guion’s motion 
by inserting “ten,” instead of “five.” 

Mr Penn’s amendment was adopted. 

Mr Kenner moved that the resolution be re¬ 
ferred to a special committee, composed of 
three delegates, with instructions to inquire 
into the probable cost of the printing of the 
journals, as contemplated in the said resolu¬ 
tion"; and that the committee be further in¬ 
structed to report on to-morrow. 

Mr Kenner’s motion prevailed, and 

The President appointed Messrs Kenner, 
Ratliff and Downs, of said Committee. 

Mr Ratliff presented the following resolu¬ 
tions, which were read. 

Resolved , That the 2d Article of the Con¬ 
stitution of Louisiana be referred to a select 
committee of - members, with instruc¬ 

tions to recommend such changes, alterations 
and amendments, if any they may deem expe¬ 
dient and proper ; and to report thereon as 
soon as practicable. 

Be it further resolved , That the 3d article of 
the Constitution of Louisiana be referred to a 

select committee, composed of- members, 

with similar instructions. 

Be it further resolved, That the 4th article of 
the Constitution be referred to a similar com¬ 
mittee, with like instructions. 

Be it further resolved, That die 5th article 
of the Constitution be referred to a similar 
committee as the 2d, with similar instructions. 

Be it further resolved. That the 6th article 
of the constitution be referred to a like com¬ 
mittee as the second,with the same instructions. 

Be it f urther resolved, That the 7th article 
of the constitution be referred to a similar com¬ 
mittee as the 2d, with the same instructions. 

Be it further resolved , That the schedule in 












15 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the constitution of Louisiana be also referred 

to a select committee, of-members, with 

instructions to report upon the same at as early 
a day as practicable ; and to recommend any 
change, alteration or amendment to the same, 
if any they may deem proper. 

On motion of Mv Wadsworth, the foregoing 
resolutions were laid on the table, subject to 
the call of the Convention. 

Mr Chinn presented the following preamble 
and resolution, which were read. 

In accordance with the following article of 
the the constitution of the State of Louisiana, 
which reads as follows, to-wit: 

art. vii. —Mode of Revising the Constitution. 

Sec. 1. When experience shall point out the 
necessity ofamendingthisconstitution, and ama 
jority of all the members elected to each House 
of the General Assembly shall, within the 
first twenty days of their stated annual session, 
concur in passing a law specifying the altera¬ 
tions intended to be made, for takino- the sense 
of the good people of this State, as to the ne¬ 
cessity and expediency of calling a Convention, 
it shall be the duty of the several returning 
officers, at the next general election which 
shall be held for Representatives, after the pas¬ 
sage of such law, to open a poll for and make 
return to the secretary for the time being, of 
the names of all those entitled to vote for rep- 
sesentatives, who have voted for calling a con¬ 
vention ; and if thereupon it shall appear that a 
majority of all the citizens of this State, entitl¬ 
ed to vote for representatives, have voted for a 
Convention, the General Assembly shall direct 
that a similar poll shall be opened, and taken 
for the next year; and if, thereupon it shall 
appear, that a majority of all the citizens of 
this State entitled to vote for Representatives 
have voted for a Convention, the General As¬ 
sembly shall, at their next session call a Con¬ 
vention to consist of as many members as there 
shall be in the General Assembly and no more; 
to be chosen in the same manner and propor¬ 
tion, at the same plaees and at the same time 
that Representatives are, by citizens entitled 
to vote for Representatives; and to meet within 
three months after the said election, for the pur¬ 
pose of re-adopting, amending or changing this 
constitution. But if it shall appear by the vote 
of either year, as aforesaid, that a majority of 
all the citizens entitled to vote for Representa¬ 
tives, did not vote for a Convention, a Conven¬ 
tion shall not be called. 

The Legislature of the State of Louisiana, 
in General Assembly convened, passed the fol¬ 
lowing act: 

AN ACT For taking the sense of the good peo¬ 
ple of this State as to the necessity and expe¬ 
diency of calling a Convention , to Amend the 
Constitution. 

Section 1 . Be it enacted by the Senate and 


House of Representatives of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana, in General Assembly convened , That the 
sense of the people of this State be taken at 
the next general election, as to the necessity" 
and expediency of calling a convention to 
amend the constitution, by incorporating in it 
the following principles and provisions. 

1st. That the eighth section of the second 
article of the constitution be amended, so as 
to fix and determine in a more specific manner 
the qualifications of all persons exercising the 
right of suffrage. 

2d. That a more equal and just system of 
Representation, both in the Senate and House 
of Representatives, be adopted ; so that each 
parish and every section of the State may be 
more equally represented, in proportion with 
the respective population of each. 

3d. That the Governor be elected by the 
people alone, without the intervention of the 
Legislature, whenever he shall have had an 
absolute majority of the whole vote given. 

4th. That the second and third sections of 
article 4th of the constitution be amended, so as 
to enable the Legislature, if they deem proper, 
to enlarge the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court, by conferring on it a general supervi¬ 
sory control over inferior Courts, and making it 
a Court of Errors in civil and criminal cases. 

5th. That the third section of said article 
4th of the constitution be amended, so as to 
authorize other places, besides those mentien-- 
ed in said section, for holding the sessions of. 
the Supreme Court. 

6th. That the preamble of the constitution 
be so amended, as to include the Florida sec¬ 
tion of the State in the formerly prescribed 
limits of the State of Louisiana. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted , c yc. That in all 
writs of elections issued by the Governor, and 
in all the notices or advertisements by parish 
judges and other officers, for the next general 
election, it shall be announced and proclaimed 
that the votes of the people are to be taken as 
to the expediency of calling a Convention to 
amend the constitution; and it shall be the 
duty of the judges of elections and sheriffs or 
other officers attending them, to make it known 
to the voters at the time of voting. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted , cf-c. That at 
the next general election, every voter shall 
express in the vote he gives for Representa¬ 
tive or other officer, his opinion for or against 
a Convention : and it shall be the duty of the 
judges of election and the several returning 
officers at the said election, to open a' poll for 
and make a return to the Secretary of State 
for the time being, of the names of all those 
entitled to a vote for Representative, who have 
voted for calling a Convention, and those who 
voted against it, with the number of votes for 
and against it; and during the first week of 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


46 

the next succeeding session of the General 
Assembly, the number of votes thus taken and 
returned, shall be received and counted by the 
President of the Senate and Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, in presence of both 
Houses, assembled in joint session, and the re¬ 
sult of the votes as to calling a Convention, as¬ 
certained, proclaimed and recorded in the jour¬ 
nals of both Houses, in the same manner as 
the vote for Governor. 

(Signed,) WM. DEBUYS, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

(Signed,) FELIX GARCIA, 

President of the Senate. 
Approved, January 30, 1841. 

(Signed,) A. B. ROMAN,’ 

Governor of the State of Louisiana. 

Now in obedience to the said act, the people 
of the State of Louisiana, as is therein requir¬ 
ed, did, on the said two several occasions, by a 
majority of all the qualified voters of said 
State, declare that they did desire a Conven¬ 
tion to be called, and in consequence thereof 
the Legislature passed an act, which was ap¬ 
proved on the — day of-, in the year 

1844. Now, in virtue of the said last mentioned 
act of the Legislature, this Convention met in 
the town of Jackson, on Monday, the 5th day 
of August, 1844, and having organized itself, 
as the law and common usage requires : 

It is, therefore, Resolved , That this Conven¬ 
tion has no other power and authority, to alter 
or amend the said Constitution of the State of 
Louisiana than is pointed out and designated 
by the said act of the Legislature of the State 
of Louisiana, approved on the 30th Jan., 1841. 

Mr Dunn presented the following as a sub¬ 
stitute to Mr Chinn’s resolution, viz : 

Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to 
report, specifically, what changes in the con¬ 
stitution of this State and what amendments 
thereto shall be considered by this Convention. 

Said resolution was read, and the President 
decided the same was out of order. 

Mr Grymes then moved that Mr Chinn’s re¬ 
solution be rejected ; and 

Mr Downs called for the yeas and nays, on 
Mr Grymes 5 motion. 

The result was, that 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale/Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Couvillon, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, 
Hynson, Humble, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, 
McCalop, McRea, Mazureau, Mayo, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stevens, 


Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St Landry, 
Trist Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff, and Winchester, voted in favor of the 
motion—66 yeas ; and 

Messrs Chinn, Conrad,Culbertson, Hudspeth, 
Pugh and Winder, voted against it—6 nays. 

The resolution was consequently rejected. 

On motion of Mr Sellers, the Conventions 
took again into consideration Mr Ratliff's reso¬ 
lution, appointing committees to whom be re¬ 
ferred the different portions of the Constitu¬ 
tion ; and 

Mr Wadsworth presented the following reso¬ 
lution, as a substitute to Mr Ratliff’s resolu¬ 
tion, viz : 

Resolvedy That a committee of *- mem¬ 

bers be appointed by the President of this 
Convention, to whom shall be referred the 
subject of the distribution of the powers of 
Government of the State of Louisiana, as set 
forth in the first article of the constitution of 
the State,with instructions to recommend such. 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper and expedient, and re¬ 
port thereon as soon as possible. 

2d, That a similar committee, composed of 

-members be appointed, as aforesaid, with 

similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they deem proper and expedient, on the subject 
of the Legislative department, as set forth in.< 
the second article of the constitution. 

3d, That a similar committee composed of 

-members be appointed, as aforesaid, with 

similar instructions, to recommend such changes 
alterations and amendments, if any they may 
deem proper and expedient, on the subject of 
the Executive Department, as set forth in the 
3d article of the constitution. 

4th. That a similar committee, composed of 

■ - , members, be appointed as aforesaid,, 

with similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper and expedient on the 
judiciary department, as set forth in the 4th 
article of the constitution. 

5th, That a similar committee, composed of’ 

- members, be appointed as aforesaid, 

with similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper and expedient, on the' 
subject of impeachment, as set forth in the 5th 
article of the constitution. 

6th, That a similar committee, composed of 

- members, be appointed as aforesaid, 

with similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper and expedient, on the- 
subject concerning general provisions, as set 
forth in the 6th article of the constitution. 

7th, That a similar committee, composed of 
- members, be appointed as aforesaid. 













Journal of the Convention of Louisiana , 17 


with similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper and expedient, on the 
subject concerning the mode of revising the 
constituting as set forth in the 7th article of 
the constitution. 

8th, That a similar committee, composed of 

- members, be appointed as aforesaid, 

with similar instructions, to recommend such 
changes, alterations and amendments, if any 
they may deem proper, on the subject of the 
schedule. 

The substitute was read. 

Mr Sellers offered the following substitute 
to Mr Wadsworth’s substitute. 

Resolved , That a committee be appointed to 
consist of one member from each Senatorial 
district, to take into consideration and report 
the best mode to bring before this Conventton, 
the alterations or amendments proposed to be 
made to the present constitution of the State 
of Louisiana. 

Mr Sellers’ substitute was rejected. 

Mr Benjamin moved to fill up the blanks in 
the substitute offered by Mr Wadsworth, by 
inserting—in the 1st the word, three; in the 
2d, the word seventeen; in the 3d, the word se¬ 
ven ; in the 4th, the word thirteen; in the 5th, 
the word jive; in the 6th,. the word thirteen; 
in the 7th, the word seven; in the 8th, the word 
seven. 

Mr Benjamin’s motion was^adopted. 

The Convention then adopted Mr Wads¬ 
worth’s substitute. 

Mr Porter submitted the following resolu¬ 
tion, which was read and adopted. 

Resolved , That a committee of five members 
be appointed, to report a bill of rights, to be 
incorporated in the new constitution. 

Mr Preston moved that the secretarv of the 

* 

Convention be directed to furnish one of the 
clerks of the Convention to the committee on 
elections. 

His motion wfss adopted. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned, till to¬ 
morrow, at 9 o’clock. 


Saturday, August 10, 1844. 

The Convention met agreeably to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Members present—Messrs. Joseph Walker, 
president; Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade. Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou- 
villon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hyn- 
son, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, La- 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Mc- 
Calop, McRea, Marigny, Mazureau, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 


Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Rc- 
selius, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule,. Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester, Winder, and Waddill. 

The Convention was opened with prayer by 
the Rev. Mr Mercer. 

On motion of Mr King, Mr Wikoff was ex¬ 
cused from attendance on account of indispo¬ 
sition. 

Mr Mayo offered the following resolutions, 
which was read : 

Resolved , That a committee of-— mem¬ 

bers be appointed to report on amendments to 
the preamble of the Constitution so as to in¬ 
clude the Florida section of the State in the 
formerly prescribed limits of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, and such other amendments as the com¬ 
mittee may think proper. 

Resolved , That a committee of-mem¬ 

bers be appointed to consider and report wheth¬ 
er any, and if any, what provisions ought to be 
made by the constitution upon the subject of 
Education, and the encouragement and promo¬ 
tion of literature. 

Mr Leonard moved that the blank in the first 
resolution be filled with the word “ three.” 

His motion was adopted, and the resolution 
was adopted. 

Mr Cade moved that the blank in the second 
resolution be filled with the word “ five.” His 
motion prevailed, and 

On motion, the said second resolution was 
adopted. 

Mr Preston, on behalf of the majority of the 
committee on elections, made the following re- 
port, which was read : 

REPORT OF THE MAJORITY. 

Lovd Wilcoxon, Esq., claims a seat in the 
Convention, as duly elected to represent the 
people of the parish of Vermillion. In support 
of his election the committee are referred to the 
7th article and to the 5th section of the second 
article of the Constitution, which prescribes 
the manner in which Representatives to the Le¬ 
gislature shall be elected, and that members of 
the Convention shall be elected in the same 
manner. The committee are of opinion that to 
support his claim an Act of the Legislature 
should have been passed prescribing that the 
parish of Vermillion should elect one Repre¬ 
sentative Delegate to the Convention, especial¬ 
ly as a few days before its creation as a parish 
the General Assembly had prescribed that the 
parish of Lafayette, including the territory out 
of which Vermilion was formed, should choose 
two Representative Delegates to the Conven¬ 
tion; moreover, that the Governor should have 
directed by proclamation an election to be held 
for a Delegate to the Convention from that pa¬ 
rish; that the parish judge should have notified 









18 


Journal of the Conve 

the voters oF the election, and that the commis- 1 
sioners of election should have counted and 
returned only the votes given for a single Del¬ 
egate, and not those given for two delegates. 

But no law was passed, in pursuance of the 
Constitution, directing one delegate to be elect¬ 
ed in the parish of Vermillion; no executive 
proclamation was issued ordering such an elec¬ 
tion. The parish Judge of Vermillion gave no 
notice that such an election would be held; ! 
votes were given for two delegates and for a 
single delegate—the votes for two delegates and 
for a single delegate were counted indiscrimin¬ 
ately by the commissioner of election, and have 
been returned by the parish judge. 

For these reasons the committee cannot de¬ 
cide that there has been a constitutional and 
legal election of a single and separate delegate 
for the parish of Vermillion, and are therefore 
of opinion that Mt YVilcoxon has not been duly 
elected a member of this Convention. 

Daniel O’Bryan, Esq., claims a seat in the 
Convention, as having been duly elected to re¬ 
present the citizens of that portion of this State 
which formerly constituted the parish of La¬ 
fayette, but now the parishes of Lafayette and 
Vermillion. 

The Constitution of the State prescribes 
“ that the General Assembly shall call a Con¬ 
vention to consist of as many members as there 
shall be in the General Assembly, and no more; 
to be chosen in the same manner and propor¬ 
tion, at the same place and at the same time 
that Representatives are, by citizens entitled to 
vote for Representatives.“ This provision of 
the Constitution expressly requires a legislative 
act to carry it into effect. Indeed, in general, 
the provisions of the Constitution requiring acts 
to be done, can only be carried into effect by 
laws passed for the purpose. 

In pursuance of this principle, the General 
Assembly, by an act approved the 18th of 
March, 1844, directed “that at, the time of 
choosing representatives to the State Legisla¬ 
ture, at the next July election, there shall also 
be elected seventy-seven persons to serve in a 
State Convention, to-wit: [enumerating all the 
parishes, and, among others,] for the parish of 
Lafayette two members.” 

A few days afterwards,on the 28th of March, 
1844, the General Assembly passed a law divi¬ 
ding the parish of Lafayette and creating out 
of a part of its territory a new parish, called 
Vermillion, and directed one of the two Rep¬ 
resentatives to the Legislature to which the pa¬ 
rish of Lafayette was entitled, to be elected by 
the new parish; but did not direct a separate 
election in that parish for a delegate to the Con¬ 
vention—nor amend the act just passed calling 
a Convention. 

The Governor ordered the execution of this 
law, calling the Convention by proclamation, 
dated the 1.7th May, 1844, directing two dele- 


ntion of Louisiana. 

gates to be elected from the parish of Lafay¬ 
ette, and by referring to the law itself evident¬ 
ly meant by the parish of Lafayette “the terri¬ 
tory embraced in the parish at the time the law 
was passed: —to-wit: that of which Lafayette 
and Vermillion are now composed. 

The parish judge of Lafayette gave the legal 
and necessary notice for the election of two de¬ 
legates to the Convention in his parish. The 
committee think the parish judge of Vermil¬ 
lion should have given a like notice in his pa¬ 
rish. Mr O’Bryan and a sitting member of the 
Convention for the representative district can¬ 
vassed in both parishes; Mr Wilcoxon, it ap¬ 
pears, canvassed only in the parish of Vermil¬ 
lion, but was voted for in both parishes. Votes 
for two delegates were given in both parishes, 
though ir« the parish of Vermillion many cili- 
zens°voted for but a single delegate. The votes 
given for two delegates were counted by the 
commissioners of election, and in the two pa¬ 
rishes Mr O’Bryan obtained a majority of the 
votes. 

From these facts the committee infer that 
the General Assembly considered that the act 
calling the Convention governed this case, be¬ 
cause having just passed it, they did not, in 
dividing the parish of Lafayette, amend it, or 
make any provision for the separate election of 
a Delegate to the Convention from the parish 
of Vermillion. The executive was evidently 
of the same opinion, as proved by his procla¬ 
mation ordering the act calling a Convention to 
be carried into effect, as passed. The judges 
of election concurred in the opinion, because 
they counted and returned the votes given for 
two delegates, as well as those given for a sin¬ 
gle delegate. The aggregate majority of citi¬ 
zens of the two parishes coincided in the opin¬ 
ion, because they gave votes for two delegates 
instead of one in both parishes. 

The committee would be unwilling to adopt 
a contrary opinion, unless forced upon them by 
the constitution of the State. The constitu¬ 
tion does not require it; on the contrary, the 
constitution required the act calling a Con¬ 
vention. The provisions of the act lor the 
electioh of senatorial delegates, of representa¬ 
tive delegates, and for the returns and certifi¬ 
cates of election, were all not-only constitution¬ 
al but necessary and proper—provisions with¬ 
out which there would probably have been 
great irregularities and uncertainty in the elec¬ 
tion. The proportion of delegates fixed by the 
law necessarily referred to the number of the 
members of the General Assembly existing at 
the time the law was passed. The constitu¬ 
tion was literally observed, by voting for the 
jwo delegates at the time and places of voting 
for a representative in each parish. The law 
calling the Convention was, as all will admit, 
a constitutional law; when passed, all its pro¬ 
visions were necessary and proper. The com- 










H9 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


mittee cannot conceive that the passage of a 
subsequent law could make its provisions un¬ 
constitutional, and if not Mr O’Bryan is con¬ 
stitutionally, legally and duly elected represen¬ 
tative delegate from the portion of the State now 
constituting the parishes of Lafayette and Ver¬ 
million. and your committee accordingly recom¬ 
mend that he be admitted to his seat in the 
Convention. 

All which is respectfully submitted to the 
■consideration of the Convention. 

Mr Labauve, on behalf of the minority of the 
same committee, made the following report: 

REPORT OF THE MINORITY. 

To the Hon. President of the Convention 
The standing committee on elections having 
differed in opinion, the undersigned members 
of that committee, beg leave to make this, their 
separate report, upon the contested seat be¬ 
tween Mr Loyd Wilcoxon and Daniel O’Bry¬ 
an. 

The facts, as evidenced by the certificates 
of the parish judges of the parishes of Lafay¬ 
ette and Vermillion, respectively, are : 

That each of said parishes voted separately 
for three delegates to this Convention. 

Mr Robert Cade obtained, in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, . .. 280 votes. 

Vermillion,.60 “ 

Total,. 340 votes. 

Daniel 0‘Bryan received in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, . 237 votes. 

Vermillion, ........... 94 “ 

Total, -.331 votes. 

Loyd Wilcoxon received in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, .43 votes. 

Vermillion,.Ill “ 

Total, . . ..154 votes. 

The law calling this Convention was approv¬ 
ed March 18th, 1844, before the incorporation 
of the parish of Vermillion, formed out of the 
parish of Lafayette by an act passed March 
25th, 1844. As the parish of Vermillion was 
not known on the 18th March, 1844, the law 
calling this Convention allowed two conven¬ 
tional delegates to the parish of Lafayette 
which was then represented in the Legislature 
by two representatives. The law subsequent¬ 
ly passed forming the parish of Vermillion, 
provided for one representative in the Legis¬ 
lature, leaving the parish of Lafayette to be 
represented by one alone ; under these laws the 
election took place in July last, 1844, and the 
parishes of Lafayette and Vermillion voted re¬ 
spectively for one representative each. The 
question to be decided by this convention in 
relation to the contested seat between Loyd 
Wilcoxon and D. 0‘Bryan is one of law, and 
involving a proper interpretation of our State 


Constitution. That is, could both parishes vot 
together under the constitution, for two dele¬ 
gates, when each one was entitled to one rep¬ 
resentative alone! We find the following, 
clause in the constitution: 

“ The General Assembly shall, at their next 
session, call a Convention to consist of as many 
members as there shall be in the General As¬ 
sembly, and no more, to be chosen in the same 
manner and proportion, at the same places , and 
at the same time , that represetatives are, by ci¬ 
tizens entitled to vote for representatives.“ 

It is contended, and it will be contended,, 
that under the law calling this convention, 
both parishes were to vote together for two- 
delegates; would that be in compliance with 
the above clause of the constitution! We an¬ 
swer in the negative. 

If the law calling a convention, instead of 
declaring that the parish of Lafayette should 
send two delegates, had followed and taken 
the clause in the constitution, there would have 
been no difficulty, and no one could have pre¬ 
tended that Lafayette and Vermillion should 
have voted together for two delegate. For in¬ 
stance, if the law had declared, that at the 
time of choosing representatives to the State 
legislature, at the next July election, there 
shall also be elected seventy-seven persons, to 
serve in the State convention, to be chosen in 
the same manner and proportion, at the same 
places, and at the same time that representa¬ 
tives are, by citizens entitled to vote for repre - 
sentriives, the words manner, proportion, places 
and time have respectively their proper mean¬ 
ing and sense. The expression “ by citizens 
entitled to vote for representatives has also a 
particular meaning. The same manner means 
that the votes should be by ballot; the same 
proportion, means that each parish in existence 
at the time of the election, should have the 
same number of delegates as representatives,- 
and each senatorial district a delegate, same 
places and time , means that delegates must be 
voted for when and where representatives are. 
The expression “ by citizens entitled to vote for 
representatives ,“ means that one must be enti¬ 
tled to vote for representatives of the parish 
where he offers his vote, to vote for a delegate 
or delegates. In the case in question, the vot¬ 
ers of Lafayette voted for one representative 
for that parish; how could they, under the above 
clause of the constitution, vote for two dele¬ 
gates? The electors of Vermillion voted for 
one representative; how could they vote for 
two delegates] Would that be considered as 
voting in the same proportion as contemplated 
by the constitution. The words in the consti¬ 
tution, to be chosen (meaning the delegates) in 
the same manner and proportion, at the same 
places, and at the same time, must all refer to 
the time when the election is held for represen- 













20 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana> 


tatives, and not to that of the passages of the 
law calling a convention. 

We, therefore, consider that the law cre¬ 
ating the parish of Vermillion, giving to it a 
representative, and leaving one alone for the 
parish of Lafayette, necessarily and explicitly 
amended the clause in that law calling the con¬ 
vention, giving two delegates to the parish of 
Lafayette, and that all the votes given in the 
latter parish to the contestants are null and 
void, considering that they could vote for one 
delegate only, and Robert Cade having obtain¬ 
ed in that parish two hundred and eighty votes. 

We, therefore, conclude that Loyd Wilcox- 
on, having obtained a majority of votes in the 
parish of Vermillion, is entitled to a seat in 
this convention as the delegate of the said pa¬ 
rish, under the constitution and the laws of the 
State. Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) ZENON LABAUVE, 
GEORGE S. GUION. 

Mr Labauve’s report was read, and 

On motion of Mr Lewis, both that and the 
report made by the majority of the committee 
were laid on the table till Monday next, and 
were also ordered to be printed with all the 
documents connected therewith, for the use of 
the members of the Convention. 

The president appointed the following Com¬ 
mittees, called for by the resolutions adopted 
yesterday in relation to the different portions of 
the Constitution, viz : 

Committee on the First Article.—Distribu¬ 
tion of Power—Messrs Wadsworth, Peets and 
Sellers. 

Committee on the Second Article.—Legisla¬ 
tive Department—Messrs Downs, Marigny, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Mayo, Voorhies, Chinn, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Boudousquie, Winches¬ 
ter, Brazeale, Scott of Feliciana, Taylor of 
Assumption, McRea, Porche, Chambliss and 
Prescott of St. Landry. 

Executive Department.—Third Article— 
Messrs Roman, Ledoux, Kenner, Couvillon, 
Benjamin, Claiborne and Scott of Madison. 

Judiciary.—Fourth Article—MessrsGrymes, 
Eustis, King, Brent, Soule, Roselius, Read, 
:Saunders, Guion, Preston, Labauve, Trist and 
Garrett. 

Impeachment.—Fifth Article—Messrs Gar¬ 
cia, Hynson, Winder, Dunn and St. Amant. 

General Provisions.—Sixth Article—Messrs 
Lewis, Splane, Waddill, Pugh, Wikoff, Prud- 
homme, Beatty, Wederstrandt, Mazureau, Ce- 
nas, Culbertson, Aubert and Legendre. 

Mode of revising the Constitution.—Seventh 
Article—Messrs Ratliff, Burton, McCalop, Ste¬ 
vens, Humble, Briant and Brumfield. 

Schedule.—Eighth Article—Messrs Penn, 
Cade, Bourg, Prescott of Avoyelles, Derbes 
and Tayler of St. Landry. 

Bill of Rights.—Ninth Article—Messrs Por¬ 
ter, Preston, Hudspeth and Benjlamin. 


Mr. Conrad presented the following re¬ 
solution which was read: 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this 
Convention that the result of its labors, 
before going into effect, should be submit¬ 
ted to the people of the Slate for their 
approval or rejection. 

Mr Garrett offered the following as an 
amendment to the foregoing ; to be added 
at its end : 

And, that all to whom the right of suf¬ 
frage shall be extended by said Constitu¬ 
tion as amended or changed, shall be en¬ 
titled to the right of voting on the same: 
and further, that the commtttee 

be directed to report a provision to this 
effect. 

Said amendment was read; and 

On motion of Mr. Kenner, it, as well as 
the said resolution were referred to a select 
committee of three members, with instruc¬ 
tions to report after the adoption of the 
Constitution. 

The President appointed Messrs F. B. 
Conrad of Jefferson, Garrett and Soule of 
said committee. 

Mr. Sellers presented the following re¬ 
solution which was read: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of State 
be requested to prepare and lay before 
this Convention, a tabular statement show¬ 
ing the white,free colored and slave popula¬ 
tion of each parish of this State, according 
to the census taken in the years 1820, 1830 
and 1840 respectively ; the area of each 
parish in square miles or acres: Also, 

-maps of the most approved kind, 

of the State of Louisiana, for the use of 
the Convention. 

Resolved, that the Treasurer be re¬ 
quested to prepare and lay before this 
Convention a tabular statement showing 
the amount of Taxes assessed in each pa¬ 
rish, each subject on which a tax was asses¬ 
sed, and the amount assessed on each in 
the year 1843. Also, the amount of taxes 
assessed in each city and incorporate town 
in this State, showing (as above) the 
amount assessed on each object of taxa- 
ion. 

Mr. Leonard moved to amend the fore¬ 
going resolutions, by adding at their end : 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the 
Convention endeavor to procure the state¬ 
ments called for in the above resolutions. 







21 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


^and if they cannot be procured in sufficient 
numbers for the use of the Convention, to 
'Cause such numbers to be printed and 
charged to the Convention. 

Said amendment was adopted; and the 
resolutions were adopted as amended. 

Mr. Kenner, presented the following 
report, viz : 

The committee to whom was referred 
the resolution to ascertain what compen¬ 
sation shall be allowed to the printer elect¬ 
ed by the Convention for printing the 
debates and journals of the Convention 
beg leave to report as follows ; That the 
sum of two thousand dollars be allowed 
said printer, as contemplated by the reso¬ 
lution referred to the committee, and that 
said resolution be so amended that the 
number of ten copies in French and Eng¬ 
lish, to be furnished, each member, be 
printed in his newspaper and in pamphlet 
form, only at the end of the session to the 
number of one thousand copies. 

Said report was read, and Mr. Kenner, 
the Chairman of said committee, offered 
the following as a substitute to the report 
of the committee : 

The committee to whom was referred 
the resolution to ascertain what compensa¬ 
tion shall be allowed the printer elected 
by the Convention for printing the debates 
and journals of the Convention, beg leave 
to report as follows : 

That, for ten copies of the Louisiana 
Reporter furniseed to each member three 
times a week as ordered in the resolution, 
the. sum of $1500 be allowed; and that for 
one thousand copies in each languag, to 
be printed in book form, in French and 
English, and furnished at the close of the 
session, the printer be allowed at the rate 
of $2 per page—each page to contoin the 
same amount of printed matter as the Jour¬ 
nal of 1811-12 as printedby J. Bayon. 

Said substitute was read, and Mr. Mc¬ 
Rae moved that it be laid on the table sub¬ 
ject to call. His motion was lost. 

Mr. Penn then called for the yeas and 
nays, on the adoption of the said substi¬ 
tute; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 


Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner,. 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leo¬ 
nard, Lewis, McCalop, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Porche, Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Am- 
ant, Saunders, Sellers, Stevens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Foorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted for its 
adoption—52 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Braze ale, Brent, Cade, Carri- 
ere, Chambliss, Couvillon, McRea, Mar- 
igny, Peets, Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Scott of Ba- 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Splane and Waddell vo¬ 
ted against its adoption—19 nays. 

The substitute was consequently adop¬ 
ted. 

Mr. Downs moved that the resolution 
presented by him yesterday, and which is 
as follows : 

“ Resolved, that the journals and de¬ 
bates of the Convention be printed by the 
printer to the Convention, in the form di¬ 
rected by the rules, in English and French 
separately, at least three times a week, 
and oftener if it be necessary, to keep up 
with the proceedings of the Convention, 
and that each member of the Convention 
be furnished with ten copies of the jour 
nals and debates, for distribution among 
his constituents, each member to select 
copies in either language,” be amended 

By saying, “ ten copies of the paper ,” 
instead of “ the journals .” Said amend¬ 
ment was adopted, and the resolution was 
adopted as amended. 

Mr. Downs presented the following re¬ 
solution, which was read : 

Resolved, That it shall be the duty of 
the secretary of the Convention to cause 
to be published in one of the newspapers 
printed in each Congressional district, to 
be selected by the delegates from the dis¬ 
trict, except that in which the Convention 
sits, the journal and debates of the Con¬ 
vention, provided it can be done at a price 
not exceeding two hundred and fifty dol¬ 
lars to each paper, and that a copy of the 
paper be sent to each member of the Con¬ 
vention, 

Mr. Downs called for the yeas and 
nays on the adoption of the foregoing re- 
I solution : 

0 





2% Journal ef the Convention of Louisiana. 


Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Bri- 
ant, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Culbertson, 
Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, Porche, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry. 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, and Wadsworth voted in favor 
of its adoption—23 yeas ; and 
Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Burton,Carriere,Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garrett,Grymes,Hudspeth,Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mc- 
Calop, McRea, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, Peets, Penn, Porter, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff,Read,Roman, Rose- 
lius, St Amant, Scottof Baton Rouge, Scott 
Feliciana, Splane, Stevens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wed- 
erstrandt, Winchester and Winder voted 
against its adoption—47 nays. 

The resolution was consequently lost. 

Mr. Ratliff presented the following re¬ 
solution, which was read : 

“ Resolved, That the treasursr of the 
State be requested to make the necessary 
arrangement to have the warrants of mem¬ 
bers for their mileage and per diem paid 
in the town of Jackson, as well as the ne¬ 
cessary contingent expenses of the Con¬ 
vention, and for that purpose, that he re¬ 
main in attendance on the Convention, or 
be authorized to employ a suitable and 
competent agent, who shall be constantly 
in attendance on the Convention during- 
its sittings, and that the sum of 
dollars per diem snail be allowed him as 
a compensation.” 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the said reso¬ 
lution was amended, by striking out the 
words “ sum of dollars per diem” 
and inserting “per diem and mileage of 
a delegate for New Orleans” 

On motion, the said resolution was 
then adopted as amended. 

Mr. Ratliff offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, which was read and adopted : 

“ Resolved, That the form of the war¬ 
rants for the mileage and per diem of 
members of this Convention, as well as 
the necessary contingent expenses of the 
House shall be in the form of the warrants 
used in the House of Representatives of 
Louisiana, and shall be signed by the Pre¬ 
sident and countersigned by the Secretary 


and approved by the Chairman of the 
Committee on Contingent Expenses, or 
some other member of said committee.” 

The President submitted the following 
letters, which were read : 

To the Convention of the State of Lou- 
siana, convened at Jackson : 

I, J. B. Planche, undersigned,now ap¬ 
pears before this honorable body, and 
begs leave to claim a seat in the Conven¬ 
tion, in lieu and place of J. P. Benjamin; 
having, at the election held in New Or¬ 
leans, on the first day of July last, obtained 
a higher number of the votes legally polled 
than the said J. P. Benjamin ; and the 
undersigned further states, that the return 
made of the votes received and polled in 
the Second Ward of the Second Municipa¬ 
lity of the said city of New Orleans, is il¬ 
legal, and can have no effect. 

At an early hour on the day of election, 
one of the inspectors of election at the 
said ward, to wit, S. W. Waters, had, 
through fear of violence, to leave the poll, 
and the other inspector, Vienne, continued 
to hold the election and to receive the votes 
against the consent and in the absence of 
of the said Waters. The election in the 
said ward was not therefore held according 
to law; no legal return of the same could 
be effected by a single inspector, and the 
whole is therefore vitiated, null and void. 

And on account of these informalities, 
and others, which are exhibited by the re¬ 
turns themselves, the undersigned con¬ 
tends that J. P. Benjamin is not duly 
elected, and that the undersigned is enti¬ 
tled to claim and to hold a seat in the 
Convention in lieu and place of the said 
J. P. Benjamin. 

(Signed) J. B. PLANCHE. 

Jackson, La., Aug. 10, 1844. 

To the Convention of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, convened at Jackson : 

I, Emile Lasere, undersigned, now 
appears before this honorable body, and 
begs leave to claim a seat in the Conven¬ 
tion, in lieu and place of C. M. Conrad, 
having, at the election held in New Or¬ 
leans, on the first day of July last, obtain¬ 
ed a higher number of the votes legally 
polled than the said C. M. Conrad, and 
the undersigned further states, that the 
return made of the votes received and 
polled in the Second Ward of the Second 







23 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Municipality of the said city of New Or¬ 
leans, is illegal, and can have no effect. 

At an early houron the day of election, 
one of the inspectors of election at the said 
ward, to wit, S. W. Waters, had, through 
fear of violence, to leave the polls, and 
the other inspector, Vienne, continued to 
hold the election and to receive the votes, 
against the consent and in the absence of 
the said Waters. The election in the 
said ward was not therefore held accord¬ 
ing to law; no legal return of the same 
could be effected by a single inspector, 
and the whole is therefore vitiated, null and 
void. Andon account of these informalities, 
and others which are exhibited by the re¬ 
turns themselves, the undersigned con¬ 
tends that C. M. Conrad is not duly elec¬ 
ted, and that the undersigned is entitled to 
claim and to hold a seat in the Conven¬ 
tion, in lieu and place of the said C. M. 
Conrad. 

(Signed) EMILE LASERE. 

Jackson, La, Aug. 10, 1844. 

On motion of Mr. Penn, said letters 
were referred to the committee of elec¬ 
tions ; and on motion of Mr. Ratliff, said 
committee were empowered to send for 
persons and papers, and examine the 
same. 

Mr. Carriere presented the following 
preamble and resolution, which were 
read : 

“ Whereas, the financial situation of 
the State requires that its Government 
should be administered on the most eco¬ 
nomical plan, to relieve the good people 
of this State from the burthens of taxa¬ 
tion, and to preserve as far as possible 
the good faith and honor of the State, 
and facilitate the fulfilment of all its en¬ 
gagements, with as little burthen to the 
people thereof as possible ; 

“ Be it therefore resolved by us, the 
representatives of the people here in 
Convention assembled ; 

“ That the members of this Conven¬ 
tion will not receive from the public 
treasury any pay, mileage or other com¬ 
pensation for their attendance or ser¬ 
vices in this Covention, but that the mo¬ 
ney appropriated by law for that pur¬ 
pose, shall remain in the treasury, to be 
applied to the ordinary purposes of the 
State, ” 


Mr. McRea presented the following 
substitute to the foregoing resolution, 
which was read ; 

“ Resolved, That all those who feel 
disposed to leave their pay in the 
treasury, are authorized to do so.” 

Mr. Ledoux moved to lay the substi¬ 
tute and resolution on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Chinn moved to adjourn till Mon¬ 
day next, at nine o’clock A. M. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr. Ledoux then called for the yeas 
and nays on his motion to lay M.r 
Carriere’s resolution and the substitute 
offered thereto on the table, and the re¬ 
sult was that 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie, 
Rourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Duun, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, King, Labauve, Le 
doux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Mc- 
Calop, McRea, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roselius, 
St. Amant, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Stevens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Wederstrandt voted in favor 
of the motion—59 yes; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Carriere, Grymes, 
Kenner, Marigny, Penn, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted against it—13 
nays. The motion was consequently 
adopted. 

Mr. Mayo gave notice that on Mon¬ 
day he would call for the reconsid¬ 
eration of the resolution in relation to 
the printing of the debates and journals 
of the Convention. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till Monday next, at 10 o’clock A. M. 

Monday, August 12,1844. 

The Convention met, agreeably to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Members present: Mr Joseph Walker, presi¬ 
dent ; Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou" 
dousquie,Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, 




24 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson,Couvillon,Cul 
bertson, Derbes, Downs Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Grymes Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, 
Lewis, McCaJop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of St 
Landry, Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stevens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St Landry, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Winches¬ 
ter, and Winder. 

The Convention was opened by prayer offered 
by the Rev. Mr. Lacy. 

On motion of Mr Trist, Mr Kenner was ex¬ 
cused form attending on account of indisposi¬ 
tion. 

The president appointed Messrs Voorhies, 
Claiborne and Read of the Committee, called 
for by the resolution directing the committee 
on the preamble of the Constitution to include 
the Florida section of the State in the former¬ 
ly prescribed limits of the State ; and 

Messrs Mayo, Eustis, Winchester, King and 
Scott of Feliciana of the Committee, appoint¬ 
ed by the resolution appointing a committee 
to consider and report whether any, and if any, 
what provisions ought to be made by the con¬ 
stitution upon the subject of Education and'the 
encouragement and promotion of literature. 

Agreeably to previous notice, Mr Mayo mov¬ 
ed to reconsider the resolution in relation to 
the printing of the Journal and Debates of the 
Convention. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr Downs, of the committee appointed on 
the legislative department, moved that said 
committee be authorized to appoint a clerk. 

His motion was adopted, 

Mr Leonard presented the following pream¬ 
ble and resolution which were read : 

Whereas it is the utmost importance that 
the office of the different state officers who 
have been elected to this Convention, do not 
remain vacant during the time said officers 
shall be in attendance in this Convention— 

Resolved , That the office of the parish judges 
and district judges now vacant by the election 
of said officers to this Convention be filled as 
follows : 

The office of the parish judges by the senior 
justice of the peace of said parish : 

The offices of the district judges by the pa¬ 
rish judge of said districts : 

Any thing to the contrary in the present con¬ 
stitution notwithstanding. 

Resolved further , That a copy of this reso¬ 
lution signed by the president of this Conven¬ 
tion and countersigned by the secretary be for¬ 
warded to the said parish judges and senior jus¬ 


tices of the peace, and to be entered by them 
on the record of the parish court of said pa¬ 
rishes. 

Mr Chinn moved that the foregoing resolu¬ 
tion be rejected, and 

Mr Lewis called for the yeas and nays, on 
Mr Chinn‘s motion, and 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvil- 
lon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, McCalop, McRca, Mazureau, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of St Lan¬ 
dry, Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhom- 
me, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted in favor of the motion—68 yeas. 

Mr Leonard voted against the motion—1 
nay. 

The resolution was consequently lost. 

Mr Sellers moved that the secretary of the 
Convention be directed to obtain a censes of 
the voters of this State to be printed with the 
other statistical documents ordered to be print¬ 
ed for the use of the Convention. 

On motion of Mr Preston, Mr Sellers’ mo¬ 
tion was amended by requiring a condensed 
statement of the votes given in every parish 
of the State at the last general election. 

Mr Benjamin moved to amend this amend¬ 
ment by inserting the votes given by the two 
last elections. 

The above amendments were adopted, and 
Mr Sellers’ motion as amended was adopted. 

The president submitted the following let¬ 
ter, which was read, and 

On motion of Mr Ratliff, was laid on the ta¬ 
ble indefinitely : 

To the Honorable the President and members of 

the Convention. 

Gent.—Believing it to be the wish of each 
member of your honorable body to dissemi¬ 
nate as widely as possible amongst his constit¬ 
uents all information of interest connected with 
your deliberations and action in the formation 
of a Constitution. 

We have deemed it advisable and not impro¬ 
per to offer an opportunity for effecting in part 
an end so desirable by proposing a re-publica¬ 
tion from your authorized journal of your pro¬ 
ceedings, journal, debates in exlenso, &c., in 
the “ Concordia Intelligencer.” 

We are willing to do this in the best possible 
manner, and furnish weekly for the use of the 
Convention 100 copies of the paper contain- 









Journal oj the Convention oj Louisiana, 


ing them for the sum of two hundred and fifty 
dollars. 

Our journal is a neutral family paper, and it 
has a circulation larger than any paper in the 
State published out of New Orleans, and su¬ 
perior, so far as a country circulation is con- 
concerned, to a very large majority of the city 
papers—and is generally taken in some seven 
of the north-western parishes,, which being as 
yet unblest with mail facilities, we are compel¬ 
led to supply by private transportation—ar¬ 
rangements for securing which not being made 
by other journals, no other does or can circu¬ 
late to any great extent. 

The impression having gone abroad amongst 
the citizens of the State that the Constitution, 
when perfected by your labors, shall be placed 
belore them for adoption or injection,how im¬ 
portant will it be under these circumstances, 
that each individual be most fully'informed of 
your action, that the features of the Constitu¬ 
tion may be understood, and the views and mo¬ 
tives which govern you in their adoption be 
completely known and properly appreciated- 

These and other reasons we hope will in¬ 
duce your favorable action upon a proposition 
which has for its object the information of the 
people upon a matter highest in importance to 
each of your constituents, and in which is in¬ 
volved the future weal of Louisiana. 

Very respectfully, 

Your obediet servants, 

(Signed) PATTERSON & THORPE, 
Editors Concordia Intelligencer. 

Mr Cade presented a petition signed by some 
of the inhabitants of the parish of Lafayette 
praying for the establishment of a Referee 

Court. Said petition was read, and 

On motion of Mr Chinn, was laid on the ta¬ 
ble indefinitely. 

On motion of Mr Roselius,. it was ordered 
that the secretary spread on the journal mere¬ 
ly the object of the petition. 

Mr Ratliff presented the following, resolu¬ 
tion, which was read. 

Resolved > That the Treasurer of tile State 
of Louisiana be authorized to pay J. A. Kelly, 
the printer for the Convention, the sum of one 
thousand dollars upon his own draft;, the same 
to be on account of the services to be render¬ 
ed by said Kelly as such printer. 

Mr Read moved to amend said resolution by 
adding at its end the words: 

Provided , That he furnish security to the 
satisfaction of the president of the Convention,, 
that he shall well and faithfully perform his 
duties. 

Mr Ratliff accepted said amendment. 

Mr Soule move that the said resolution be 
rejected, and called for the yeas and nays on 
said motion. 

Mr Lewis enquired of the president whether 


'4>b 

if upon taking the vote on the rejection of said- 
resolution it was not rejected, that decision was 
not equivalent to its adoption. 

The president deckled that its not being re¬ 
jected was equivalent to its being adopted. 

The vote beino- taken 

Messrs Brazeale, Brent. Carriere, Couvil- 
lon, Culbertson, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Prescott of Avoyelles,. Preston, Soule, 
Voorhies and Waddill voted in favor of its re- 
ject,ion>r—14 yeas. 

Messrs Aubert,.Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Derbes, Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Hyn~- 
son, King, Labauve, . Ledoux,. Leonard, Legen¬ 
dre,. Lewis,, McCalop,. McRea, Marigny, Mazu- - 
reau, Mayo, Peets,.Penn, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman,, Roselius, St Amant, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stevens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St Landry, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted against its rejection—55 nays. 

The said resolution was consequently adopt¬ 
ed. 

Mr Penn moved that the said resolution be 
reconsidered. 

His motion prevailed ; and 
Mr Penn moved to amend the same by striking 
out the word “ pay ” and insert in its stead the 
word “ advance,” and by striking out the words 
“ services to be rendered by said Kelly as such 
printer,” and inserting in their lieu the words 
“ the subscription to the Reporter, ordered by 
a resolution of this Convention adopted on the 
10th instant.” 

Said amendments were adopted ; and 

On motion, the resolution was- adopted as 
amended. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow at 10 o’clock, A M. 


Tuesday, August 13, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Members present: Mr Joseph Walker, pre¬ 
sident; Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie,, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield,, Burton,,, Cade,. Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes,, Downs, 
Dunn, y Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion,. Hynson,. Hudspeth,. Humble, King, 
Lebauve, Ledoux,. Legendre,. Leonard, Lewis, 
Marigny, McCalop, McRea, Mazureau, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius,. 
St Amant, Sanders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
7 






26 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Soule, Splane, 'Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Winchester, Wederstrandt, Win¬ 
der, and Waddill. 

The Convention was opened with prayer by 
the Rev. Mr Haggerman. 

Mr C. M. Conrad of Orleans, appeared and 
took his seat. 

The President appointed Mr C. M. Conrad 
of Orleans, as a member of the committee ap¬ 
pointed on the Bill of Rights. 

Mr Benjamin moved to reconsider the propo¬ 
sition of Messrs Patterson & 'Thorpe of the 
Concordia Intelligencer, in relation to the pub¬ 
lishing of the journal and debates of the Con¬ 
vention. 

His motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr Splane, the Convention 
took into consideration the reports of the ma¬ 
jority and minority of the committee of elec¬ 
tions on the returns made of Mr D. O’Bryan 
and L. Wilcoxon for the parish of Vermillion. 

Mr O’Bryan enquired of the Convention 
whether he would be allowed to address the 
Convention. 

Mr Chinn moved that both the contestants 
be allowed to appear before the Convention 
either in person or by counsel. 

His motion prevailed, and Mr 0‘Bryan ad¬ 
dressed the Convention. 

The following which was the report of the 
majority of the committee of elections, was 
'read : 

REPORT OF THE MAJORITY. 

Loyd Wilcoxon, Esq., claims a seat in the 
Convention, as duly elected to represent the 
people of the parish of Vermillion. In support 
of his election the committee are referred to the 
7th article and to the 5th section of the second 
article of the Constitution, which prescribes 
the manner in which Representatives to the Le¬ 
gislature shall be elected, and that members of 
the Convention shall be elected in the same 
manner. The committee are of opinion that to 
support his claim an Act of the Legislature 
should have been passed prescribing that the 
parish of Vermillion should elect one Repre¬ 
sentative Delegate to the Convention, especial¬ 
ly as a few days before its creation as a parish 
the General Assembly had prescribed that the 
parish of Lafayette, including the territory out 
of which Vermilion was formed, should choose 
two Representative Delegates to the Conven¬ 
tion; moreover, that the Governor should have 
directed by proclamation an election to be held 
for a Delegate to the Convention from that pa¬ 
rish; that the parish judge should have notified 
the voters of the election, and that the commis¬ 
sioners of election should have counted and 
returned only the votes given for a single Del¬ 
egate, and not those given for two delegates. 

But no law was passed, in pursuance of the 
^Constitution, directing one delegate to be elect¬ 


ed in the parish of Vermillion; no executive 
proclamation was issued ordering such an elec¬ 
tion. The parish Judge of Vermillion wave no 
notice that such an election would be held; 
votes were given for two delegates and fora 
single delegate—the votes for two delegates and 
for a single deleo-ate were counted indiscrimin- 

o o 

ateiy by the commissioner of election, and have 
been returned by the parish judge. 

For these reasons the committee cannot de¬ 
cide that there has been a constitutional and 
legal election of a single and separate delegate 
for the parish of Vermillion, and arc therefore 
of opinion that Mr Wilcoxon has not been duly 
elected a member of this Convention. 

Daniel O’Bryan, Esq., claims a seat in the 
Convention, as having been duly elected to re¬ 
present the citizens of that portion of this State 
which formerly constituted the parish of La¬ 
fayette, but now the parishes of Lafayette and 
Vermillion. 

The Constitntion of the State prescribes 
“ that the General Assembly shall call a Con¬ 
vention to consist of as many members as there 
shall be in the General Assembl} r , and no more; 
to be chosen in the same manner and propor- 
ion, at the same place and at the same time 
that Representatives are, by citizens entitled to 
vote for Representatives.“ This provision of 
the Constitution expressly requires a legislative 
act to carry it into effect. Indeed, in general* 
the provisions of the Constitution requiring acts 
to be done, can only be carried into effect by 
laws passed for the purpose. 

In pursuance of this principle, the General 
Assembly, by an act approved the 18th of 
March, 1844, directed “that at the time of 
choosing representatives to the State Legisla¬ 
ture, at the next July election, there shall also 
be elected seventy-seven persons to serve in a 
State Convention, to-wit: [enumerating all the 
parishes, and, among others,] for the parish of 
Lafayette two members.” 

A few days afterwards,on the 28th of March, 
1844, the General Assembly passed a law divi¬ 
ding the parish of Lalayette and creating out 
of a part of its territory a new parish, called 
Vermillion, and directed one of the two Rep¬ 
resentatives to the Legislature to which the pa¬ 
rish of Lafayette was entitled, to be elected by 
the new parish; but did not direct a separate 
election in that parish for a delegate to the Con¬ 
vention—nor amend the act just passed calling 
a Convention. 

The Governor ordered the execution of this 
law, calling the Convention by proclamation* 
dated the 17th May, 1844, directing two dele¬ 
gates to be elected from the parish of Lafay¬ 
ette, and by referring to the law itself evident¬ 
ly meant by the parish of Lafayette “the terri¬ 
tory embraced in the parish at the time the laid 
was passed —to-wit: that of which Lafayette 
and Vermillion are now composed. 












27 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish judge of Lafayette gave the legal 
•and necessary notice for the election of two de¬ 
legates to the Convention in his parish. The 
committee think the parish judge of Vermil¬ 
lion should have given a like notice in his pa¬ 
rish. Mr O’Bryan and a sitting member of the 
Convention for the representative district can¬ 
vassed in both parishes; Mr Wilcoxon, it ap¬ 
pears, canvassed only in the parish of Vermil¬ 
lion, but was voted for in both parishes. Votes 
for two delegates were given in both parishes, 
though in the parish of Vermillion many citi- 
‘zens voted for but a single delegate. The votes 

. o o 

given for two delegates were counted by the 
commissioners of election, and in the two pa¬ 
rishes Mr O’Bryan obtained a majority of the 
votes. 

From these facts the committee infer that 
the Genera! Assembly considered that the act 
calling the Convention governed this case, be¬ 
cause having just passed it, they did not, in 
dividing the parish of Lafayette, amend it, or 
make any provision for the separate election of 
a Delegate to the Convention from the parish 
of Vermillion. The executive was evidently 
of the same opinion, as proved by his procla¬ 
mation ordering the act calling a Convention to 
be carried into effect, as gassed. The judges 
of election concurred in the opinion, because 
they counted and returned the votes given for 
two delegates , as well as those given for a sin¬ 
gle delegate. The aggregate majority of citi- 
’zens of the two parishes coincided in the opin¬ 
ion, because they gave votes for two delegates 
instead of one in both parishes. 

The committee would be unwilling to adopt 
a contrary opinion, unless forced upon them by 
the constitution of the State. The constitu¬ 
tion does not require it; on the contrary, the 
constitution required the act calling a Con¬ 
vention. The provisions of the act for the 
electioh of senatorial delegates, of representa¬ 
tive delegates, and for the returns and certifi¬ 
cates of election, were all not only constitution¬ 
al but necessary and proper—provisions with¬ 
out which there would probably have been 
great irregularities and uncertainty in the elec¬ 
tion. The proportion of delegates fixed by the 
law necessarily referred to the number of the 
members of the General Assembly existing at 
the time the law was passed. The constitu¬ 
tion was literally observed, by voting for the 
•jwo delegates at the time and places of voting 
for a representative in each parish. The law 
calling the Convention was, as all will admit, 
a constitutional law; when passed, all its pro¬ 
visions were necessary and proper. The com- ' 
mittee cannot conceive that the passage of a 
subsequent law could make its provisions un¬ 
constitutional, and if not Mr O’Bryan is con¬ 
stitutionally, legally and duly elected represen¬ 
tative delegate from the portion of the State now 
constituting the parishes of Lafayette and Ver- [ 


] million, and your committee accordingly recom¬ 
mend that he be admitted to his seat in the 
Convention. 

All which is respectfully submitted to the 
consideration of the Convention. 

The following which is the report made by 
the minority of said committee was also read, 
as was also the following appendix. 

REPORT OP THE MINORITY. 

To the Hon. President'of the Convention: 

The standing committee on elections having 
differed in opinion, the undersigned members 
of that committee, beg leave to make this, their 
separate report, upon the contested seat be¬ 
tween Mr Loyd Wilcoxon and Daniel O’Bry¬ 
an. 

The facts, as evidenced by the certificates 
of the parish judges of the parishes of Lafay¬ 
ette and Vermillion, respectively, are : 

That each of said parishes voted separately 
for three delegates to this Convention. 

Mr Robert Cade obtained, in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, . 280 votes. 

Vermillion, . ..60 “ 

Total,. 340 votes. 

Daniel 0‘Bryan received in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, . 237 votes. 

Vermillion,. 94 “ 

Total,.331 votes. 

Loyd Wilcoxon received in the parish of La¬ 
fayette, .43 votes. 

Vermillion,.Ill “ 

Total,.154 votes. 

The law calling this Convention was approv¬ 
ed March 18th, 1844, before the incorporation 
of the parish of Vermillion, formed out o-f the 
parish of Lafayette by an act passed March 
25th, 1844. As the parish of Vermillion was 
not known on the 18th March, 1844, the law 
calling this Convention allowed two conven¬ 
tional delegates to the parish of Lafayette 
which was then represented in the Legislature 
by two representatives. The law subsequent¬ 
ly passed forming the parish of Vermillion, 
provided for one representative in the Legis¬ 
lature, leaving the parish of Lafayette to be 
represented by one alone ; under these laws the 
election took place in July last, 1844, and the 
parishes of Lafayette and Vermillion voted re¬ 
spectively for one representative each. The 
question to be decided by this convention in 
relation to the contested seat between Loyd 
•Wilcoxon and D. OBryan is one of law, and 
involving a proper interpretation of our State 
Constitution. That is, could both parishes vots 
together under the constitution, for two dele- 
gates, when each one was entitled to one rep 
resentative alone? We find the following 
, clause in the constitution: 















journal uj me uonvention oj Louisiana. 


“ The General Assembly shall, at their next 
session, call a Convention to consist of as many 
members as there shall be in the General As¬ 
sembly, and no more, to be chosen in the same 
manner and 'proportion, at the same places , and 
at the same time , that represetatives are, by ci¬ 
tizens entitled to vote for representatives.“ 

It is contended, and it will be contended, 
that under the law calling this convention, 
both parishes were to vote together for two 
delegates; would that be in compliance with 
the above clause of the constitution] We an 
swer in the negative. 

If the law calling a convention, instead of 
declaring that the parish of Lafayette should 
send two delegates, had followed and taken 
the clause in the constitution, there would have 
been no difficulty, and no one could have pre¬ 
tended that Lafayette and Vermillion should 
have voted together for two delegate. For in¬ 
stance, if the law had declared, that at the 
time of choosing representatives to the State 
legislature, at the next July election, there 
shall also be elected seventy-seven persons, to 
serve in the State convention, to be chosen in 
the same manner and proportion, at the same 
places, and at the same time that representa 
lives are, by citizens entitled to vote for repre- 
sentrtives, the words manner, proportion, places 
and time have respectively their proper mean¬ 
ing and sense. The expression “ by citizens 
entitled to vote for representatives ,“ has also a 
particular meaning. The same manner means 
that the votes should be by ballot; the same 
proportion, means that each parish in existence 
at the time of the election, should have the 
same number of delegates as representatives, 
and each senatorial district a delegate, same 
places and time, means that delegates must be 
voted for when and where representatives are. 
The expression “ by citizens entitled to vote for 
representatives means that one must be enti¬ 
tled to vote for representatives of the parish 
where he offers his vote, to vote for a delegate 
or delegates. In the case in question, the vot¬ 
ers of Lafayette voted for one representative 
for that parish; how could they, under the above 
clause of the constitution, vote for two dele¬ 
gates? The electors of Vermillion voted for 
one representative; how could they vote for 
two delegates! Would that be considered as 
voting in the same proportion as contemplated 
by the constitution. The words in the consti¬ 
tution, to be chosen (meaning the delegates) in 
the same manner and proportion, at the same 
places , and at the same time, must all refer to 
the time when the election is held for represen¬ 
tatives, and not to that of the passages of the 
law calling a convention. 

We, therefore, consider that the law cre¬ 
ating the parish of Vermillion, giving to it a 
representative, and leaving one alone for the 


parish of Lafayette, necessarily and explicitly 
amended the clause in that law calling the con¬ 
vention, giving two delegates to the parish of 
Lafayette, and that all the votes given in the 
latter parish to the contestants are null and 
void, considering that they could vote for one 
delegate only, and Robert Cade having obtain¬ 
ed in that parish two hundred and eighty votes. 

We, therefore, conclude that Loyd Wilcox- 
on, having obtained a majority of votes in the 
parish of Vermillion, is entitled to a seat in 
this convention as the delegate of the said pa¬ 
rish, under the constitution and the laws of the* 
State. Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) ZENON LABAUVE, 
GEORGE. S. GUION. 

APPENDIX. 

Election. —State of Louisiana—Parish of 
Lafayette. —An election in the parish of Lafay¬ 
ette, of one representative to the twenty-ninth. 
Congress of the United States, from the fourth 
congressional district of the State of Louisia¬ 
na, of which the parish nf Lafayette is apart;. 

Of one Representative to the Congress of 
the United ^States, from the fourth congres¬ 
sional district of the State of Louisiana, of 
which parish of Lafayette is a part, to serve 
until the third day of March, 1845, to fill the* 
vacancy occasioned by the death of the Hon. 
P. E. Bossier; 

Of one Representative from the paiishof La¬ 
fayette to the General Assembly of the State; 

Of two persons from the parish of Lafayette 
to the State Convention. 

Of one person from the county of Attaka- 
pas, of which the parish of Lafayette is a part,, 
to the State Convention. 

By virtue of the proclamation of His Ex¬ 
cellency Alexander Mouton, Governor of the 
State of Louisiana, dated the 17th May last,, 
for the above mentioned election, the judge of 
the parish of Lafayettte notifies the electors of 
said parish that the said election will take 
place at the court house of this parish, on the 
first Monday of July next and the two follow¬ 
ing days, between the hours of 10 o‘ciock, a. 
m. and 4 o‘clock, p. m.; 

And at the following precincts, on the first 
Monday of July next and the following day, be¬ 
tween the hours of 10 ofolock, a. m. and 4 o’¬ 
clock, p. m., to-wit: 

AtCaran Cro, at the residence of Franyois 
Benoit. 

At Cote Gelee, at the residence of Joseph 
Stainville Landry. 

At Isle des Canes, at the residence of An¬ 
toine Guidry. 

And as soon as the list of the voters and the 
boxes containing the tickets of the electors who 
shall have voted, shall have been received by 
the parish judge, he will proceed in presence 
1 of the commissioners of election, to the open- 







29 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ing of the boxes and the counting of the votes 
in the maimer specified by law. 

Given under my hand, at Vermillionville, this 
twenty-second day of June, in the year of our 
.Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty- 
four, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the sixty-eighth. 

(Signed) CHAS. M. OLIVIER, 

Parish Judge. 

ELECTION'. 

State of Louisiana—Parish of Vermillion^ 

An election in the parish of Vermillion, for 
one Representative to the twenty-ninth Con¬ 
gress of the United States, from the fourth con¬ 
gressional district of the State of Louisiana, 
of which the parish of Vermillion is a part;. 

Of one Representative to- the Congress of 
the United States from the Fourth Congres¬ 
sional District of the State of Louisiana, of 
which Vermillion is a part—to serve until the 
3d day of March, 1845, to fill the vacancy oc¬ 
casioned by the death of the Hon. P. E. Bos¬ 
sier ; 

Of one Representative from the parish of 
Vermillion, to the General Assembly of the 
State; 

And of one person from the county of Atta- 
kapas, of which the parish of Vermillion is a 
part, to serve in the State Convention. 

By virtue of a proclamation of His Excellen¬ 
cy Alexander Mouton, Governor of the State 
of Louisiana, dated the 17th day of May last, 
or the election of the above mentioned, the 
judge of the parish of Vermillion notifies the 
electors of the said parish, that the said election 
will take place on the first of July and the two 
following days, between the hours of 10 o‘clock 
a. m. and 4 o’clock, j. m., to-wit: 

On the first and second day, at the house of 
,A. A. Martin, under the superintendance of J. 
Porter, Esq., Alexis Blanchet and Benjamin 
Broussard ; 

On the first and second day, at the house of 
Joseph Zephyrin Fraham, under the superin¬ 
tendance of Edward T. Broussard, Euzebe Gen- 
dry and Joseph Hebert; 

On the first and second day at the house of 
Edward Hoflfpower, under the superintendance 
of Bosman Lyons, Esq., Joseph Spell and Na¬ 
than Hoflfpower; 

And on the first, second and third day, at the 
storehouse of Capt. R. Perry, under the super¬ 
intendence of William Caldwell, Esq., Albert 
Stansberry and Thomas Caldwell. 

And on the last day of the election, at Per¬ 
ry’s Bridge, at 4 o’clock, p. M.,the Parish Judge 
will proceed, in presence of the commissioners 
of election, to the opening of the boxes and 
the counting of the votes in the manner spe¬ 
cified by law. 

Given under my hand,, at Perry’s Bridge, this 


the 20th day of June, in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and forty-four, and 
of the Independence of the United States of 
America the sixty-eighth. 

(Signed) WM. KIBRE, 

Judge of the parish of Vermillion. 

State of Louisiana—Parish of Lafayette. 

Be it remembered that on this third day of 
July, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and forty-four, 

I, Charles M. Oliver, Judge of the parish of 
Lafayette, do hereby certifiy, that at an elec¬ 
tion held in the said parish, conformably to 
law, and in virtue of a proclamation of his Ex¬ 
cellency Alexander Mouton, Governor of the 
State, dated the 17th day of May last past, di¬ 
recting an election to take place in the said 
parish, on the first day of July inst., and the 
two following days, the result of the vote given 
at the said election, as to a delegate to the 
Convention for the parish of Lafayette, is as 
follows: 

Robert Cade of the parish of Lafayette, re* 
ceived two hundred and eightv votes. 

Daniel 0‘Bryan of the parish of Vermillion, 
received two hundred and thirty-seven votes. 

Loyd Wilcoxon of the parish of Vermillion, 
received forty-three votes. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my 
hand, at the parish of Lafayette, on the day 
and year first above written. 

CHAS. M. OLIVIER, 
Parish Judge. 

State of Louisiana—Parish of Vermillion. 

Be it knwon, that an election was held in 
conformity to law and in virtue of a proclama¬ 
tion of His Excellency Alexander Mouton, Go¬ 
vernor of the State, dated the 17th day of May 
last past, directing the election of a member to 
Congress, a delegate to represent the county 
of Attakapas in a State Convention, and a re¬ 
presentative to serve in the State Legislature 
for the parish, of Vermillion. 

And be it further known,, that on counting 
the votes* taken at said election, the following 
votes were given for a delegate to serve in the 
State Convention from the parish of Vermillion, 
to-wit : 

Loyd Willcoxon. received 111 votes. 

Dan. OBryan, “ 94 “ 

Robert Cade “ 60 “ 

Giving Mr Loyd Wilcoxon a majority of 
votes. 

I, William Kibbe, Parish Judge, within and 
for the parish of Vermillion, do hereby certify 
the foregoing to be a correct statement of votes 
taken on the first,.second and third days of July 
last past, for a delegate to serve in a State Con¬ 
vention from the parish of Vermillion. 

Given under my hand and private seal (not 

8 







90 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


having 1 an official seal) this the 23d day of July, 
Anno Dam ini 1844. 

(Signed) WM. KIBBE, 
Parish Judge of the parish of Vermillion. 

State of Louisiana—Parish of Vermillion. 

Be it remembered, that at the election held 
in accordance to law and in pursuance of a 
proclamation of His Excellency Alexander j 
Mouton, Governor of the State of Louisiana, 
dated the 17th day of May last past; for the pur¬ 
pose of electing a member to the Congress of 
the United States, a person to serve in a State 
Convention, from the county of Attakapas, and 
for the purpose of electing a representative 
from the parish of Vermillion, to serve in the 
State Legislature, the following vote was also 
given for the election of a delegate to serve in 
the State Convention, to-wit: 

Loyd Wilcoxon received 111 votes. 

Daniel O’Bryan “ 94 w 

Robert Cade “ 60 “ 

being a majority in favor of Loyd Wilcoxon of 
seventeen votes. 

I, William Kibbe, Parish Judge, within and 
for the parish of Vermillion, hereby certify the 
foregoing to be a true and correct statement of 
the votes taken at the election aforesaid dur¬ 
ing the first day of July and two following 
days for a member to serve in the State Con¬ 
vention. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 
my hand and affied my private seal (not hav¬ 
ing a public seal) at my office this 27th day of 
July, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred 
and forty-four. 

(Signed) WM. KIBBE, 
Parish Judge.. 

Mr Splane moved that the report of the ma¬ 
jority be adopted, and called for the yeas and 
nays on said motion. 

Messrs Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Cuvillon, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, 
Grymes, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McCalop, McRea, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stevens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill. Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt and Winder voted in fa¬ 
vor of the motion—45 yeas. 

Messrs Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jeffersan, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labanve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St Amant, Saunders, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of St. Landry and Winchester vot- 
■ed against the motion—28 nays. 

The report was consequently adopted. 


On motion of Mr Brent, Mr O’Bryan’s name 
was entered on the roll, and that gentleman 
authorized to take his seat. 

Mr Ratliff presented the following resolution 
which was read and adopted : 

Inasmuch as the first committee appointed 
by the Convention to report on the election of 
members of this Convention reported Mr Loyd 
j Wilcoxon as entitled to his seat; and, inas¬ 
much as Mr Wilcoxon withdrew from this Con¬ 
vention to facilitate its organization ; and, in¬ 
asmuch he has incurred expenses during the 
pendency of his contested seat, 

Resolved , That Mr Wilcoxon be entitled to 
demand and receive the mileage and per diem 
of a member up to this date. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to- 
morrow at 10 o’clock, A. M. 


Wednesday, August 14, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. The Convention was opened with pray¬ 
er by the Rev. Mr. Mercer. 

The President suggested to the Convention 
the propriety of omitting the names of the 
members present, and making merely a note of 
the members absent at the end of the journal 
of each day. 

Mr. Downs moved that the President’s sug¬ 
gestion be adopted, and that the Secretary be 
authorized to omit said names. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, Mr. Taylor of As¬ 
sumption was excused from attending, on ac¬ 
count of indisposition. 

Mr. Grymes moved that the committee on 
the judiciary be permitted to sit pending the 
sittings of the Convention, and further, that 
said committee be authorized to appoint a 
clerk. 

His motion was adopted. 

Mr. Ratliff, of the committee on contingent 
expenses, made the following report, which 
was read : 

The committee on contingent expenses, to 
whom has been referred the application of J. 
Bayon, for compensation for five hundred co¬ 
pies of the Journal of the Convention of Loui¬ 
siana, of 1811-12, furnished to this Conven¬ 
tion, report : 

That Mr. J. Bayon has furnished to this 
Convention, five hundred copies, in pamphlet 
form, of the journal in question. That the Eng¬ 
lish copies consist of twenty-four pages, and 
the French copies of nineteen pages. That 
the French copies are printed in smaller type 
than those in the English language, making 
the amount of printing in each about equal. 
After enquiry, the committee believe, that one 
hundred dollars would be a fair compensation 
for the pamphlets referred to, and recommend, 
that the treasurer be authorized to pay that 
sum to said Bayon, upon his own warrant. 






31 


Journal of the Convention Louisiana. 


Mr. Ratliff moved that the said report bo 
.■adopted, and Mr. Sellers called for the yeas and 
iiavs on said motion. 

Messrs Benjamin, Bourg, Braceale, Brent, 
Boudouspuie, Briant, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Couvillon, Culbertson, Debes, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, 
Lewis, McCalop, McRea, Marigny, Afayo, Ma- 
zurean, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff*, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Ma¬ 
dison, Soule, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder- 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in favor 
of its adoption—66 yeas ; and 

Messsrs Aubert, Beatty, Brumfield, Burton, 
Carrie re, Chamblis, Sellers and Stevens voted 
against its adoption—8 nays. 

The said report was consequently adopted. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow, at twelve o’clock A. M. 

Messrs Taylor of Assumption and WikofF 
absent on leave, on account of indisposition. 


Thursday, August 15, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Convention was opened with prayer by 
the Rev. Mr. Lacey. 

Gn motion of Mr Garcia, Mr St Amant was 
excused from attendance on account of ill 
health. 

Mr Voorhies made the following report : 

The committee to whom was referred the 
preamble of the constitution, beg leave to sub¬ 
mit the following : 

In order that the limits of the State of Loui¬ 
siana may more clearly be known and estab¬ 
lished, it is hereby declared, that the following 
shall be and forever remain the boundaries, in 
accordance with a treaty made at Paris, on 
the 30th day of April, 1803, between the Uni¬ 
ted States and France, and of an act of Con¬ 
gress, approved April 12, 1812, entitled an Act 
to enlarge the limits of the State of Louisiana, 
to wit : Beginning at the mouth of the river 
Sabine, thence by a line to be drawn along the 
middle of said river, including all its islands, 
to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence, 
due north to the northermost part of the thirty- 
third degree of north latitude ; thence, along 
the said parallel of latitude, to the river Missis¬ 
sippi ; thence, down the said river to the thir¬ 
ty-third degree of north lat itude ; thence, along 
the said degree of latitude to the eastern 
branch of Pearl river ; thence, down the east¬ 
ern branch of Pearl river, to the eastern mouth j 


of said Pearl river ; thence, to a point on the 
Gulf of Mexico, where the line formerly sepa¬ 
rating Louisiana proper and the Florida section 
of the State, drawn from the river Mississippi, 
along the middle of the river Iberville and lakes 
Maurepas and Pontchartrain, would strike ; 
thence, bounded by the said gulf to the place 
of beginning, including all the islands within 
three leagues of the coast ; and for the go¬ 
vernment of the people of Louisiana, we, the 
delegates and representatives by them elected, 
and in Convention assembled, in pupsuance of 
an act approved March 18, 1844, entitled, an 
act to provide for the calling of a Convention, 
for the purpose of re-adopting, amending, or 
changing the constitution of the State, do or¬ 
dain and establish the following constitution 
or form of government. 

Mr Chinn moved that the reading of the 
foregoing report be dispensed with, and that 
the same be ordered to be printed. 

His motion was lost. 

The said report was read, and Mr Lewis 
moved to re-commit the same back to the com¬ 
mittee, with instructions to enquire into the 
fact whether the western bank of the Sabine 
river should not be included witbin the limits 
of the State. 

His motion was adopted. 

Mr Brent made the following report, which 
was read : 

A majority of the committee on elections, to 
whom was referred the application of Emile La- 
sere, claiming a seat in this Convention, in lieu 
and place of C M Conrad, and also the applica¬ 
tion of J B Planche, claiming a seat in lieu and 
place of £ P Benjamin, beg leave to submit the 
following report, embracing the proceedings of 
the committee and the facts which have eome 
to their knowledge during the progress of the 
investigation. 

The first question submitted to the commit¬ 
tee arose from an exception filed by Messrs 
Conrad and Benjamin, in the words following, 
to wit : “ That we, the undersigned, do deny 
that this honorable committee can take cogni- 
sance of the pretended contestation, set up by 
the said LaSere and the said Plauche, because 
said contestation has not been made in the 
manner and form, nor within the time, nor by 
the proper number of persons required by law 
and the constitution.” 

This exception was overruled by a majority 
of the committee ; they being of the opinion 
that the laws in relation to contested elections 
did not apply to cases like the present, where 
all the parties claim to have been elected by a 
majority of the legal votes polled, according to 
the face of the returns. A majority of the 
committee were however, of the opinion that 
the laws of the State, regulating contested, 
elections before the legislature, were applicable 





32 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana v 


to the case of elections to this Convention, and 
that if these were to be considered as cases of 
regular contestatian, that the committee'would 
be precluded from entering generally into an 
examination of their merits, inasmuch as no 
notice of contestation had been given, in par 
suance to the requisitions of law. 

The parties then proceed to submit their evi¬ 
dence to the committee, and on the part of 
Messrs Lasere and Plauehe, the documents 
hereto appended, marked B and C, were 
offered, which were objected to by Messrs 
Conrad and Benjamin,, but received by the 
committee, subject to legal exceptions ; also 
tha maginal notes of the document A, hereto 
annexed, were objected to, but received like¬ 
wise by the committee. 

The document marked A is a condensed 
statement, signed by Charles Maurian, parish 
judge of New Orleans, of the returns of elec¬ 
tion, held in the thirteen wards of the city of 
New Orleans, on the first of July, 1844, for 
members of the Convention, with seven refer¬ 
ences to the body of the statement, marked, A, 
B, C, D, E, F and G, referring to a corres- 
conding number of marginal noms attached to 
the said statement. 

From this document it appears that no votes 
were taken in the Second Ward of the First 
Municipality, and that in the remaining twelve 
wards of the city Charleg M C onrad received 
1143 votes as a delegate to the Convention, J 
P Benjamin received 1121 votes, Emile Lasere 
1062 votes, and J B Planche 1057 votes. By 
the marginal notes of the Judge it seems that 
great irregularity prevailed, and numerous in¬ 
terruptions to the voting took place at several 
of the election precincts in the city. In the First 
Ward of the Frst Municipality, and in the Third 
Ward of the Second Municipality, both of the 
commissioners appointed by law presided at 
the election, but the returns to the parish 
judge are signed by but one of the inspectors 
from each of said wards. In the Second Ward 
of the Second Muncipality, both the inspectors 
presided for a portion of the day, but one of 
them left them left the polls at about half past 
twelve o’clock, P. M., and did not return to as¬ 
sist in counting the votes or to attest the cer¬ 
tificate and proces verbal of his co-inspectors. 
If the votes in the three wards in which one in¬ 
spector alone has signed the proces verbal be 
rejected, then the votes of the contestants in 
the remaining wards are as follows: for C M 
Conrad, 793 votes; for J P Benjamin, 769 votes; 
for E LaSere, 889 votes; for j B Plauehe, 877 
votes. If the poll in the Second Ward of the 
Second Municipality be alone rejected, then 
then the vote for the contestants will stand as 
follows : for C M Conrad, 898 votes; for J P 
Benjamin, 846 votes; for E LaSere, 925 votes; 
and for J B Plauehe, 915 votes. 


The document hereto annexed, marked B ; is.; 
the separate return made to the parish judge b}~ 
N A Vienne, one of the inspectors of the Second : 
Ward, of the Second Municipality, and the do¬ 
cument marked O, is the separate return or 
counter statement made to theparish judge by S 
W Waters, the other inspector of said ward, 
who left the polls and did not assist in counting 
the votes at that precinct. 

The committee having proceeded thus far in 
their examination, and having received in evi¬ 
dence,, subject to legal exception, the docu¬ 
ments marked A, B and C, an application was 
made by Messrs Conrad and Benjamin for pro¬ 
cess to be directed to the city of New Orleans, 
to take testimony to sustain the allegations 
contained in the answers filed by them, and to 
rebut the testimony offered by contestants in 
the documents marked A, B and C. The an¬ 
swer filed by them will be found appended to . 
this report, and is marked D. 

A majority of the committee then determined 
that the facts of this case should he reported to 
the Convention, .and that it should be left to • 
your honorable body to decide whether the ap¬ 
plication for process to obtain evidence in New 
Orleans should be granted or not. They ab¬ 
stain from expressing any opinion whatever 
upon the facts which have transpired, during 
the progress of this investigation, but it would 
relieve them from much embarrassment if the 
Convention should decide whether it is their 
duty or within their province to examine into 
any facts at the present stage, not apparent up¬ 
on the face of the returns which have been 
submitted to their consideration. 

Should it be the opinion of the Convention 
that it is their duty to decide at this time which . 
of the contestants are entitled to their seats 
upon the face of the returns, then a majority of 
this committee will have no hesitation in re¬ 
porting the conclusions at which they have ar¬ 
rived. rC VOORHIES, 

(Signed) < J FFNWICK BRENT, 

C CYRUS RATLIFF. 

On motion of Mr Ratliff, the said report and ’ 
accompanying documents were laid on the ta¬ 
ble, subject to call. 

Mr Ratliff then made the following report, 
which was read, and on motion of Mr Penn,, 
was ordered to be printed : 

The committee to whom was referred the 
seventh article of the constitution of Louisiana, 
which provides for revising that instrument, 
with instructions to recommend such changes, 
alterations or amendments, if any they may 
deem expedient and proper; having had the 
same under consideration, and after giving the 
subject an attentive consideration, beg leave to > 
submit the following report: 

Mode of revising the constitution. 

Any amendment or amendments to this con- 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana 


3 m 


sfitution may be proposed in the Senate of 
House of Representatives, and if the same 
shall be agreed to by a majority of the mem¬ 
bers elected to each house, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be entered 
on their journals, with the yeas and nays ta¬ 
ken thereon, and the secretary of state shall 
cause the same to be published three months 
before the next general election, in at least 
one newspaper in every parish of the state 
in which newspapers shall be published,, and 
if in the Legislature next afterwards chosen, 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be agreed to by a majority of the mem 
bers elected to each house, the secretary of 
state shall cause the same to be published 
in manner aforesaid, at least three months 
prior to the next general election for repre¬ 
sentatives to the State Legislature, and such 
proposed amendment or amendments shall be 
submitted to the people at said election ; and 
if the people shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments by a majority of 
all the qualified voters of this state, voting 
thereon, sucli amendment or amendments 
shall become a part of the consitution. 

Provided, that if more than one amendment 
be submitted at a tiine^ they shall be sub¬ 
mitted in such manner and form' that the 
people may vote- for or against each, amend¬ 
ment separately and distinctly. 

Mr Wadsworth made the following report, 
which was read, and on his motion, was or¬ 
dered to be printed: 

The committee appointed to take into consi¬ 
deration the provisions of the first article of 
the constitution of the State, relative to the 
distribution of the powers of government, re¬ 
port : 

First—That the powers of the Government 
of the State of Louisiana shall be divided into 
three distinct departments, and each of them 
them to be confined to a separate body of magi¬ 
stracy,, to wit: those which are legislative, to 
one—those which are executive, to another— 
and those which are judiciary, to another. 

Second—No person or collection of persons 
holding office under one of these departments, 
shall exercise any power properly belonging to 
either of the others, except in instances here¬ 
inafter expressly directed or permitted. 

(Signed) J. M. WADSWORTH,. Chairman 
M. B. SELLERS, 

GEO. W. PEETS, 

On motion of Mr Guion, the Convention 
took into consideration the report made by Mr 
Brent, and he also presented the following re¬ 
solutions : 

Resolved, That Messrs C. M. Conrad and J. 
P. Benjamin have been recognized by this Con¬ 
vention as members prima facie , elected from 
the parish of Orleans, and as prima facie enti¬ 


tled to their seats therein, leaving to any per¬ 
son the right to contesttheir seats according to 
law. 

Resolved, that the laws of ths State relating 
to contested elections, apply to elections of de¬ 
legates to this Convention. 


And on motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at nine o’clock. A. M. 

Note. —Messrs. Taylor of Assumption and 
Wikoff, absent on account of indisposition. 


Friday, August 1G, 1844. 

The Convention met agreeably to adjoun- 
ment. The Convention was opened with pray¬ 
er by the Rev: Mr. Hagerman. 

Mr Downs presented the following resolu¬ 
tion as a substitute to the resolution presented 
yesterday by Mr Guion, recognizing Messrs C. 
M. Conrad and J. P. Benjamin as members pri¬ 
ma 1 facie, elected from the parish of Orleans, 
and as prima facie entitled to their seats there¬ 
in, leaving to any person the right to contest 
their seats according to law, viz : 

Resolved , That the contested election from the 
parish of Orleans be recommitted to the com¬ 
mittee on elections, with instructions to report 
as early as possible on the evidence before 
them, which of the four contestants are enti¬ 
tled prima facie to their seats, until the final 
decision of the Convention. 

Mr Benjamin moved to amend the foregoing 
resolution by striking out the words “ report as 
early as possible on the evidence before them, 
which- of the four candidates are entitled prima 
facie to their seats until the final decision of 
the Convention, ” and insert the words “ re¬ 
ceive all legal evidence offered by the parties, 
and to report as early as possible.” 

Mr Downs moved to amend Mr Benjamin’s 
amendment by inserting at its end the words 
“but shall firsthand without delay, report on 
the evidence before them, which of the four 
contestants are entitled prima facie to their 
seats until the final decision of the Conven¬ 
tion.” 

Mr Claiborne apppealed to the president to 
decide whether Mr Down’s amendment was in 
order. 

The president decided that said amendment 
was out of order. 

Mr Downs enquired of the president wheth¬ 
er, if Mr Benjamin’s amendment was adopted, 
the said substitute would still be before the 
Convention,, and subject to amendment. 

The president decided that it would be be¬ 
fore the Convention,,and be subject to amend¬ 
ment. 

Mr Claiborne then called for the yeas and 
nays on Mr Benjamin’s amendment. 

Mr Benjamin moved to be excused from vot¬ 
ing on said amendmdent as he was interested, 

His motion prevailed. 

9 





m 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr Conrad of Orleans, was also excused. 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Ce- 
nas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, 
Lewis, McRea, McCalop, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh,Ratliff, R,ead, Roman, Rose- 
lius, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scottof Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Stevens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester, and Winder 
voted in favor of the amendment—64 yeas. 

Messrs Brazeale, Cade, Couvillon and Porche 
voted against its adoption—4 nays. 

It was consequently adopted. 

Mr Downs moved to further amend said sub¬ 
stitute by adopting the following resolution : 

Resolved , That the committee on elections 
be further instructed to report which of the 


, contestants, on the face of the papers, are en¬ 
titled to their seats in the Convention until the 
final decision by the Convention. 

Mr Wadsworth moved to amend the forego¬ 
ing resolution by inserting after the words “ on 
the face of the papers,” the words “transmit¬ 
ted by the parish judge of the parish of the 
parish of New Orleans.” 

Pending the discussion of the above, 

Mr Lewis moved that the Convention ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, A. M., and 
suspended said motion to allow Mr Soule to 
introduce the following resolution, which was 
read and adopted. 

Resolved , That the committee on contingent 
expenses be instructed to enquire into and re¬ 
port upon the expediency of appointing two 
additional clerks to assist those aleady appoint¬ 
ed, in the performance of their duties. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned, till to¬ 
morrow, at 9 o’clock. 

Messrs Chinn, Kenner, Trist and Taylor of 
Assumption absent on account of indisposi¬ 
tion. 


Saturday, August 17, 1844. 

The Convention met agreeably to adjournment. The Convention was opened with prayer 
by the Rev. Mr. Mercer. 

Mr Downs, chairman of the Committee on the Legislative Departments, presented the fol¬ 
lowing as the report of the majority of the committte. The amendments are incorporated 
with the sections of the old constitution, and the old provision is placed in the opposite co¬ 
lumn ;o present the amendment more distinctly te view: 


ARTICLE II .—Concerning 

REPORT OF THE MAJORITY. 

Section 1 . The legislative pow T er of this 
State shall he vested in two distinct branches, 
the one to be styled the House of Representa¬ 
tives, the other the Senate, and both together 
the General Assembly of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana. 

Sec. 2. The members of the House of Re- 
presetatives shall continue on service for the 
term of two years, from the day of the closing 
the general elections. 

Sec. 3. The Representatives shall be chos¬ 
en on the first Monday, one day only, in Sep¬ 
tember every two years, and the General As¬ 
sembly shall convene on the third Monday in 
January in every second year, unless a differ¬ 
ent day be appointed by law, and their differ¬ 
ent sessions shall be held at the seat of go¬ 
vernment. 

The first election under this Constitution 
shall take place in the year —- 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a representative 
who, at the time of his election, is not a free 
white male citizen of the United States, and 
hath not attained the age of twenty-one years, 
and resided in the State two years next pre¬ 
ceding his election, and the last year thereof 

the parish fer which he may be chosen. 


• the Legislative Department. 

OLD CONSTITUTION. 

Section 1. The legislative power of this 
State shall be vested in two distinct branches, 
the one to be styled the House of Representa¬ 
tives, the other the Senate, and both together 
the General Assembly of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana. 

Sec. 2. The members of the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives shall continue in service for the 
term of two years from the day of the com¬ 
mencement of the general election. 

Sec. 3. Representatives shall be chosen on 
the first Monday in July every two years, and 
the General Assembly shall convene on the 
first Monday in January in every year, unless a 
different day be appointed by law, and their 
sessions shall be held at the seat of govern¬ 
ment. 


Sec. 4. No person shall be a representative 
who, at the time of his election, is not a free 
white male citizen of the United States, and 
hath not attained to the age of twenty-one 
years, and resided in the State two years next 
preceding the election, and the last year there¬ 
of in the county for which he may be chosen 





35 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


1Sec. 5. Election for Representatives for the 
several parishes or representative districts en¬ 
titled to representation, shall be held at the se¬ 
veral election precincts established by law and 
and which the Legislature, having- in view the 
• convenience of the voters, may from time to 
time establish ; Provided , that the Legislature 
may delegate the power of establishing elec¬ 
tion precincts to the parochial or municipal au¬ 
thorities. 

Sec. 8 . Representation shall be equal and 
uniform in this State ; each parish shall have 
at least one representative, and beyond that, 
if entitled to any more, in proportion to the 
population of each, ascertained and calculated 
according to the principle of representation 
adopted in the Constitution of the United 
States. The first representation under this 
constitution shall continue until alter the next 
United States census in 1850, and shall be as 


follows: [members. 

The parish of Plaquemines shall have 

one member, 1 

The parish of St. Bernard, 1 

“ Orleans— 

1st Municipality, 5 1 

2d “ 4 > 12 

3d “ 3 ) 

That part of the parish of Orleans on 
the east bank of the river Missis¬ 
sippi, 1 

The parish of Jefferson, 2 

“ St. Charles, 1 

“ St. John Baptist, 1 

“ St. James, 2 

w Ascension, 1 

“ Assumption, 2 

“ 'Lafourche Interior, 3 

“ Terrebonne, 1 

“ Iberville, 1 

“ West Baton Rouge, 1 

“ East “ “ 2 

“ West Feliciana, 2 

East “ 2 

“ St. Helena, 1 

“ Livingston, 1 

“ Washington, 1 

St. Tammany, 1 

“ Pointe Coupee, 1 

“ Concordia, 1 

“ Tensas, 1 

“ Madison, 1 

“ Carroll, 1 

“ Franklin, 1 

• “ St. Mary, 1 

“ St. Martin, 2 


or in the district for which he is elected, in case 
the said counties may be divided into separate 
districts of election, and has not held for one 
year in the said county or district landed pro¬ 
perty to the value of five hundred dollars 
agreeably to the tax list. 

Sec. 5. Elections for Representatives for the 
several counties entitled to representation, shall 
be held at the places of holding their respective 
courts, or in the several election precincts, into 
which the Legislature may think proper, from 
time to time, to divide any or all of those coun¬ 
ties. 


Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal and 
uniform in this State, and shall be forever regu¬ 
lated and ascertained by the number of quali¬ 
fied electors therein. In the year one thous¬ 
and eight hundred and thirteen, and every 
fourth year thereafter, an enumeration of all 
the electors shall be made in such a manner 
as shall be directed by law. The number of 
representatives shall, in the several years of 
making those enumerations, be so fixed as not 
to be less than twenty-five nor more than fifty. 




36 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana *. 


The parish of Lafayette, 

b 

u 

Vermillion, 

i 

u 

St. Landry, 

4 

u 

Calcasieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

2 

a 

Rapides, 

o 

it 

Natchitoche, 

2 

u 

Sabine, 

1 

u 

Caddo, 

1 

a 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

I 

u 

Morehouse 4 ' 1 

1 

t< 

Union, 

1 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

u 

Catahoula, 

1 

u 

Claiborne, 

1 

U 

Bossier, 

1 


Total, 72 

As soon as may be after the United States 
census of 1850 shall have been taken and pro¬ 
mulgated, and every ten years thereafter, the 
number of representatives shall be fixed and 
apportioned according to the principles of this 
section, so as not to be less than seventy nor 
more then one hundred, and whenever a new' 
parish shall be created, a separate representa¬ 
tion shall, at the same time be provided for it, : 
which shall continue until the next decimal ap-- 
portionment. 

Sec. 7. The House of Representatives shall 
choose its Speaker and other officers. 

Sec. 8. In all elections for representatives, 
every free white male citizen of the United 
States, who, at the time being, hath attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided in 
the State two years next preceding the elec¬ 
tion and the last year thereof in the parish in 
which he offers to vote, shall have the right of 
voting ; electors shall in all cases, except trea¬ 
son, felony, breach or surety of peace, be pri¬ 
vileged from arrest during their attendance at, 
or going to, or returning from elections. 


Sec. 9. The members of the Senate shall 
be chosen for the term of four years, and when 
assembled shall have the power to edioose its 
officers every two years. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 
eight senatorial districts, each of which shall 
elect four Senators, to be voted for by persons 
entitled to vote for representatives, as follows: 

All that portion of the parisbi of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi river 
shall comprise one district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 


Sec. 7. The House of Representatives shall? 
choose its speaker and other officers. 

Sec. 8. In all elections for Representatives, 
every free white male citizen of the United 
States who, at the time being, hath attained to 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided in the 
county in which he offers to vote one year next 
preceding the election, and who in the last six 
months prior to the said election shall have 
paid a State tax, shall enjoy the right of an 
elector; Provided, however, that every free 
white male citizen of the United States who 
shall have purchased land from the United 
States, shall have the right of voting whenever 
he shall have the other qualifications of age 
and residence above prescribed. Electors shall 
in all cases, except treason, felony, breach or 
surety of peace, be privileged from arrest dur¬ 
ing their attendance at, going to, or returning 
from elections.- 

Sec. 9. The members of the Senate shall be 
chosen for the term of four years, and when 
assembled shall have the- powrnr to choose its 
officers annually. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided in fou- 
teen senatorial districts, which shall forever re¬ 
main indivisible, as follows : the parish of St. 
Bernard and Plaquemines, including the coun¬ 
try above as far as the canal (DesPecheurs) on 
the east of the Mississippi, and on the west as 
far as Bernoudy’s canal, shall form one district. 
The city of New Orleans beginning at the. 



Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 


37 


and the remainder of the parish of Orleans, 
parish of Jefferson, St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist sh.all compose the second district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, As¬ 
sumption, Lafourche Interior and Terrebonne 
shall compose the third district. 

I he parishes ol Iberville, West Baton Rouge, 
Last Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee and Avoy¬ 
elles shall compose the fourth district. 

* The parishes of West Feliciana, East Feli¬ 
ciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. Helena 
and Livingston shall compose the fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, Madi¬ 
son, Ouachita,'Union, Tensas, Franklin, More¬ 
house, Catahoula and Caldwell shall compose 
the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, Cad¬ 
do, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bossier and 
DeSoto shall compose the seventh district. % 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Landry, St. 
Martin, Lafayette and Vermillion shall com¬ 
pose the eighth district. 

Provided, that the Legislature shall have 
the power in any year in which they shall ap¬ 
portion representation in the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives to divide any or one cf said senatori¬ 
al districts, each to be entitled to elect two 
Senators. 

Sec. 11. At the session of the General As¬ 
sembly after this Constitution takes effect, the 
Senators shall be divided by lot, as equally as 
may be, into two classes; the seats of the Sena¬ 
tors of the first class shall be vacated at the 
expiration of the second year, of the second 
class at the expriration of the fourth year;'so 
that one half shall be chosen every two years, 
and a rotation thereby kept up perpetually. 

Sec. 12. No person shall be a Senator who 
at the time of his election has not been a citi¬ 
zen of the United States ten years, and who 
hath not attained the age of twenty-seven 
years, and resided in the State four years next 
preceeding his election and one 3 r ear in the dis¬ 
trict in which he may be chosen. 


Sec. 13. The first election for Senators shall 
he general throughout the State, and at the 
same time that the general election for repre¬ 
sentatives is held ; and thereafter there shall 
be a biennial election of Senators to fill the 
places of those whose time of services may 
have expired. 

Sec. 14. Not less than a majority of the mem¬ 
bers of each house of the General Assembly 
shall form a quorum to do_ business : but a 
smaller number may adjourn from day to day 
and shall be authorized by law to compel the 
attendance of absent members, in such manner 
and under such penalties as may be prescribed 
thereby. 

Sec. 15. Each House of the General As- 


Nun’s Plantation above, and extending below as 
far as the above-mentioned canal (Des Pecli- 
eurs,) including the inhabitants of Bayou St. 
John, shall form the second districts; the re- 
rnaidcr of the county of Orleans shall form the 
third district. The eounties of German Coast, 
Acadia, Lafourche, Iberville, Pointe Coupee, 
Concordia, Attakapas, Qupelousas, Rapides, 
Natchitoches and Ouachita, shall each form 
one district, and each district shall elect a Sen¬ 
ator. 


Sec. 11. At the session of the General As¬ 
sembly after this Constitution takes effect, the 
Senators shall be divided by lot, as equally as 
may be, into two classes ; the seats of the Sen¬ 
ators of the first class shall be vacated at the 
expiration of the second year; of the second 
class at the expiration of the fourth year; so 
that one half shall be chosen every two years, 
and a rotation thereby kept up perpetually. 

Sec. 12. No persan shall be a Senator who, 
at the time of his election, is not a citizen of 
the United States, and wiio has not attained the 
age of twenty-seven years, resided in this State 
four years next preceding his election, and one 
year in the district in which he maybe chosen; 
and unless he holds within the same a landed 
property to the value of one thousand dollars, 
agreeably to the tax list. 

Sec. 13. The first election for Senators shall 
be general throughout the State, and at the 
same time that the general election for Repre¬ 
sentatives is held ; and thereafter there shall 
be a biennial election of Senators to fill the pla¬ 
ces of those whose time of services may have 
expired. 

Sec. 14. Not less than a majority of the 
members of each House of the General As¬ 
sembly shall forma quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and shall be authorized by law to compel 
the attendance of absent members, in such 
manner and under such penalties as may be 
prescribed thereby. 

Sec. 15. Each House of the General As- 
10 



38 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


sembly shall judge of the qualifications, elec¬ 
tions and returns of its members ; but a con¬ 
tested election shall be determined in such 
manner as shall be directed by law. 

Sec. 16. Each House of the General Assem¬ 
bly may determine the rules of its proceed¬ 
ings, punish a member for disorderly behavior, 
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel 
a member ; but not a secend time for the same 
offence. 

Sec. 17. Each House of the General As¬ 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a jour¬ 
nal of its proceedings, and the yeas and nays 
of the members on any question shall, at the 
desire of any two of them, be entered on tne 
journal. 

Sec. 18. Each House may punish by impris¬ 
onment, during the session, any person not a 
member, for disrespectful or disorderly behavior 
in its presence, or for obstructing any of its 
proceedings ; provided such imprisonment shall 
not at any one time exeeed ten days. 

Sec. 19. Neither House during the session 
of the General Assembly shall without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in 
which they may be sitting. 

Sec. 20. The members of the General As¬ 
sembly shall severally receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during their 
attendance on, going to, and returning from the 
session of their respective houses; Provided , 
that the same may be increased or diminished 
by law ; but no alteration shall take effect dur¬ 
ing the period of service of the members of 
the House of Representatives, by whom such 
an alteration shall have been made; Provided , 
also , that this compensation shall exist for the 
period of sixty days only, but if the General 
Assembly shall at any time extend the session 
beyond sixty days, they shall not receive any 
compensation for any period beyond the said 
sixty days. 

Sec. 21. The members of the General As¬ 
sembly shall, in all cases except treason, felo¬ 
ny, breach or surity of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the ses¬ 
sions of their respective houses, and going to 
or returning from the same, and for any speech 
or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 22. No Senator or Representative shall 
during the term for which he was elected, nor 
for one year thereafter, be appointed or elected 
to any civil office of profit under this State, 
which shall have been created, or the emolu¬ 
ments of which shall have been increased dur¬ 
ing the time such Senator or Representative 
was in office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of the 
jteople. 


sembly shall judge of the qualifications, eleb- 
tions and returns of its members ; but contest¬ 
ed elections shall be determined in such man¬ 
ner as shall be directed by law. 

Sec. 1G. Each House of the General As¬ 
sembly may determine the rules of its pro¬ 
ceedings, punish a member for disorderly be¬ 
havior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, 
expel a member, but not the second time for 
the same offence. 

Sec. 17. Each House of the General As¬ 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a jour¬ 
nal of its preceding, and the yeas and nays of 
the members on any question shall, at the de¬ 
sire of any two of them, be entered on their 
j onrnat. 

Sec. 18. Neither House during the session 
of the General Assembly shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
day*, nor to any other place than that in which 
they may be sitting. 


Sec. 19. The members of the General As¬ 
sembly shall receive from the public treasury 
a compensation for their services, which shall 
befour dollars per day, during their attendance 
on, going to, and returning from the sessions 
of their respective houses ; Provided, that the 
same may be increased or diminished by law ; 
but no alteration shall take effect during the 
period of service of the members of the House 
of Representatives, by whom such alteration 
shall have been made. 


Sec. 20. The members of the Gene”al As¬ 
sembly shall, in all cases except treason, fel¬ 
ony, breach or surety of the peace, be privileg¬ 
ed from arrest during their attendance at the 
sessions of their respective Houses, and in go¬ 
ing to or returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not 
be questioned in any other place. 

Sec. 21. No Senator or Representative shalls, 
during the term for which he was elected, nor 
for one year thereafter, be appointed or elected 
to any civil office of profit or trust under this 
State, which shall have been created, or the 
emoluments of which shall have been increas¬ 
ed during the time such Senator or Represen¬ 
tative was in office, except to such offices or 
appointments as may he filled by the elections 
of the people. 


39 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 

Sec. 23. No person, while he continues to Sec. 22. No person, while he continues to 


exercise the functions of a clergyman, priest or 
teacher of any religious persuasion, society or 
sect, shall be eligible to the General Assem¬ 
bly, or to any office of profit or trust, under 
this State. 

Sec. 24. No person who at any time may 
have been a collector of taxes, or who may 
have been otherwise entrusted with public mo¬ 
ney shall be eligible to the General Assembly 
or to any other office of profit or trust under 
the State government, until he shall have ob¬ 
tained a quitus for the amount of such collec¬ 
tion and for all public monies with which he 
may have been entrusted. 

Sec. 25. No bill shall have the force of a law 
until, on three several days, it be read over in 
each House of the General Assembly, and free 
discussion allowed thereon, unless in case of 
urgency, four-fifths of the House where the 
bill shall be depending may deem it expedient 
to dispense with this rule. 

Sec. 26. All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representatives, but 
the Senate may propose amendments as in 
other bills ; Provided , that they shall not intro¬ 
duce any new matter under the color of an 
amendment which does not relate to raising a 
revenue. 

Sec. 27. The General Assembly shall regu¬ 
late by law, by whom and in what manner 
writs of election shall be issued to fill the va¬ 
cancies which may happen in either branch 
thereof. 

Mr Downs, cn behalf of the minority of the 
report: 

Report of the Minority of the Committee con¬ 
sisting of S. W. Downs, R. J. Chambliss, B. 
B. Brazeale, G. Leonard, P. Porche, G. 
Mayo, T. W. Scott and A. M. McRea, to 
he offered as a substitute to the 1 ()th section. 
The Senate shall consist of thirty-two mem¬ 
bers, to be elected for four years, by the voters 
qualified to vote for Representatives, and at 
the same time, one-half every two years, and 
the appointment of Senators shall be as fol¬ 
lows : So 

The parishes of Plaquemines and St Ber- g 
nard and that portion of the parish of © 
Orleans on the right bank of the river, P 
shall have one Senator. 1 

Parish of Orleans shall have— 

1st Municipality, 2 ) 

2d “ 1 > 4 

3d “ 1 ) 

“ Jefferson, 1 

“ St John Baptist and St Charles, 1 

“ St James, 1 

“ Ascension and Assumption, 1 

“ Lafourche and Terrebonne, 2 

“ Iberville and West Baton Rouge, 1 

- East Baton Rouge, 1 


exercise the functions of a clergyman, priest 
or teacher of any religious persuasion, society 
or sect, shall be eligible to the General Assem¬ 
bly, or to any office of profit or trust under this 
State. 

Sec. 23. No person who at any time may 
have been a collector o f taxes for the State, or 
the assistant or deputy of such collector, shall 
be eligible to the General Assembly, until he 
shall have obtained a quitus for the amount of 
such collection, and for the public moneys for 
which he may be responsible. 

Sec. 24. No bill shall have the force of a law 
until on three several days, it be read over in 
each House of the General Assembly, and 
free discussion allowed thereon; unless in case 
of urgency, four-fifths of the House where the 
bill shall be pending may deem it expedient to 
dispense with this rule. 

Sec. 25. All bills for* raising revenue shall 
originate in the House of Representatives, but 
the Senate may propose amendments as in oth¬ 
er bills ; Provided , that they shall not intro¬ 
duce any new matter, under the color of art 
amendent, which does not relate to raising a re¬ 
venue. 

Sec. 26. The General Assembly shall regu¬ 
late by law, by whom and in what manner 
writs of election shall be issued to fill the va¬ 
cancies which may happen in either branch 
thereof.. 


aforementioned committee, made the following 


Parish of East Feliciana, 

1 

(i 

West Feliciana, 

1 

u 

St Helena and Livingston, 

I 

a 

Washington and St Tammany, 

1 

<4 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

It 

t.afc 

Concordia and Tensas, 

1 

a 

Carroll and Madison, 

1 

u 

Catahoula and Franklin, 

1 

it 

St Mary and St Martin, 

1 

u 

Lafayette and Vermillion, 

1 

u 

St Landry, 

1 

u 

Sabine and Calcasieu, 

I 

•< 

Avoyelles, 

1 

u 

Rapides, 

1 

a 

Natchitoches, 

1 

u 

Caddo and De Soto, 

1 

4C 

Blaiborne and Bossier, 

1 

U 

Ouachita and Caldwell, 

1 

(C 

Union and Morehouse, 

I 


Total, 

32 

And whenever a new parish shall be creat- 


ed, it shall be attached to that Senatorial dis¬ 
trict from which most of it was taken, or to 
another contiguous district, at the discretion of 



40 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


the Legislature, but shall not be attached to 
more than one district. 

Mr Mayo, of the minority committee appoin¬ 
ted on the said legislative department, made the 
following report, which was read : 

The undersigned members of the committee 
on the 2d article of the constitution, beg leave to 
report the following as a substitute for the 
eighth section of the said article, as reported 
by a majority of the said committee : 

Sec. 8.—Every free white male male citizen 
of the United States, of the age of twenty-one 
years or upwards, who shall have resided in 
this State one year next preceding an election, 
and the last six months thereof in the parish or 
district in which he offers to vote, shall be 
deemed a qualified elector, and be entiiled to 
vote in the parish or district where lie actually 
resides, for each and every officer made elec¬ 
tive by the people, under this State or the Uni¬ 
ted States : Provided, no soldier, seaman or 
marine in the army or navy of the United 
States, nor persons under interdiction, nor un¬ 
der conviction of any crime punishable with 
hard labor, shall be entitled to vote at any elec¬ 
tion in this State. Electors shall in all cases, 
except treason, felony, breach or surety of the 
the peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendance at, and returning from the polls. 

(Signed) G. MAYO, 

R. J. CHAMBLISS, 

S. W. DOWNS, 

B. B. BRAZEALE, 
PIERRE PORCHE, 

G. LEONARD, 

A. H. McRAE, 

Mr Winchester informed the Convention 
that on Monday next, he would make, on be¬ 
half of the minority of the aforementioned com¬ 
mittee, a counter report to that offered by the 
majority of said committee. 

Mr Winchester offered the following reso¬ 
lution, which was read and adopted : 

Resolved, That the secretary of the Conven¬ 
tion direct the printer to print all reports and 
counter reports on the same subject together. 

Mr Downs submitted the record of the mi¬ 
nutes of the committee on the legislative de¬ 
partment, which was ordered to be filed. 

Mr Roman, of the committee appointed on 
the third article of the constitution, concern¬ 
ing the executive department, made the follow¬ 
ing report, which was read : 

The committee appointed on the third article 
of the constitution, concerning the executive 
department, have had under consideration the 
subject referred to them, and agreed to the fol¬ 
lowing report : 

Sec. 1 . —The supreme executive power of 
this State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, 
who shall be styled the Governor of the State 
of Louisiana. He shall hold his office during 


the term of four years, and together with the 
Lieutenant Governor, chosen for the same 
term, be elected as follows : 

Sec. 2. —The citizens entitled to Vote for re¬ 
presentatives shall vote for a governor and lieu¬ 
tenant governor, at the time and place of voting 
for representatives. Their votes shall be re¬ 
turned by the officers presiding over the elec¬ 
tions, to the seat of government, addressed to 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives ; 
and on the second day of the session of the Ge¬ 
neral Assembly, then next to be holden, the 
members of the General Assembly shall meet 
in the blouse of Representatives, to examine 
and count the votes. The person having the 
greatest number of votes for governor shall be 
declared duly elected, if such number be a ma¬ 
jority of all the votes given ; but if no person 
have such a majority, then from the two per¬ 
sons having the highest numbers in the list of 
those voted for as governor, the General As¬ 
sembly shall choose immediately by ballot the 
governor. The person having a majority of 
the votes given for lieutenant governor, shall 
be the lieutenant governor ; and if no person 
have a majority, then from the two persons hav¬ 
ing the highest numbers on the list, the Gene¬ 
ral Assembly shall in the same manner choose 
the lieutenant governor. 

Sec. 0.—No person shall be eligible to the 
office of governor or lieutenant governor, ex¬ 
cept a native citizen of the United States, or an 
inhabitant at the time of the cession thereof 
to the United States, of that portion of the ter¬ 
ritory included in the present limits of Loui¬ 
siana. Nor shall any person he eligible to ei¬ 
ther of the said offices, who shall not hold in 
his own right landed property situated in said 
State, of the value of five thousand dollars, 
agreeably to the tax list; and who shall not 
have attained the age of thirty-fi. e years, and 
have been ten years next preceding his election 
a resident within the State. 

Sec 0.—The governor shall enter on thedis 
charge of his duties on the second Monday of 
January, in the year , and continue in 

office until the Monday next succeeding the 
day that his successor shall have been declared 
duly elected, or until his successor shall have 
taken the oath or affirmation prescribed by this 
constitution. 

Sec. 0.—No member of Congress or person 
holding any office under the United States 
or minister of any religious society, shall be 
eligible to the office of governor or lieutenant 
governor. 

Sec. 0.— The governor shall have power to 
grant reprieves for all offences against the 
State, and except in cases of impeachment, 
shall, with the consent of the Senate, have 
power to grant pardons and to remit fines and 
forfeitures, after conviction. In cases oft.rea» 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana , 4l 


son, ho may grant reprieves until the end of the 
next session of the General Assembly, in which 
the power of pardoning shall be vested. 

Sec. 0.—All commissions shall be in the 
name and qy the authority of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, and shall be sealed with the State seal, 
and signed by the governor. 

Sec. 0. —In case of the impeachment of the 
governor, his removal from office, death, refu¬ 
sal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the 
State, the powers and duties of the office shall 
devolve upon the lieutenant governor for the 
residue of the term, or until the governor ab¬ 
sent or impeached shall retnrn or be acquitted. 
The legislature may provide by law for the 
case of removal, death, resignation, or inability 
-—both of the governor and lieutenant gover¬ 
nor ; declaring what officer shall act as gover¬ 
nor ; and such officer shall act accordingly un¬ 
til the disability he removed, or a governor 
shall be elected. 

Sec. 0.— The lieutenant governor or other 
officer discharging the duties of governor, shall, 
during his administration, receive the same 
compensation to which the governor would 
have been entitled, had he continued in office. 

Sec. 0.—The lieutenant governor shall, by 
virtue of his office, be president of the Senate, 
but shall have only a casting vote therein. 
Whenever he shall administer the government, 
or shall be unable to attend as President of 
the Senate, the Senators shall elect one of 
their own members as president of the Senate, 
for that occasion. 

Sec 0 . — While he acts as president of the 
Senate, the lieutenant governor shall receive 
for his services the same compensation which 
shall, for the same period, be allowod to the 
speaker of the House of Representatives, and 
no more. 

Sec. 0—A secretary of state shall be appoin¬ 
ted, and commissioned to hold his office during 
the pleasure of the governor. The records of 
the State shall be kept and preserved in the 
office of the secretary. He shall keep a fair 
register of the official acts and proceedings of 
the governor, and when necessary shall attest 
them. He shall, when required, lay the said 
register and all papers, minutes and vouchers 
relative to his office, before either House of the 
General Assembly, and shall perform such 
other duties as may be enjoined on him by law. 

A majority ef the committee are of opinion 
that in the article referred to them, the sec¬ 
tions 3d, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 
15th, 20th, 21st, 22d and 23d, require no 
amendment, and that the 16th section ought to 
be stricken out. 

Mr Scott of Madison, of the said committee 
on the executive deparrment, made the follow¬ 
ing counter report, which was also read : 

That the second section of the constitution of 1 


this State be so amended as to read as follows 

The governor shall be elected for the term 
of four years, in the following manner : The 
citizens entitled to vote for representatives shall 
vote for governor at the time and place of vot¬ 
ing for representatives and senators. 

Their votes shall be returned by the persons 
presiding over the elections, to the seat ef go¬ 
vernment, addressed to the secretary of state; 
who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, at the next ensuing 
session of the legislature, during the first week 
of such session ; the speaker shall open and 
publish them in the presence of both houses 
of the legislature. 

The person having the highest number of 
votes shall be governor; but if two or more 
shall be equal and highest in votes, then one of 
them shall be chosen governor by the joint bal- 
lot of both houses of the legislature. 

That the lieutenant governor be elected in 
the same manner and at the same time with the 
governor. 

That the ninth section of said constitution be 
so amended as to read as follows : He shall 
nominate and appoint, with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, all officers whose offices 
are established by this constitution, and whose 
appointments are not otherwise provided for 
therein. 

(Signed) THOS. B. SCOTT. 

Mr Garcia, of the committee on the fifth 
article, concerning impeachment, made the 
following report, which was read : 

The committee appointed to consider and 
report to this convention upon the fifth arti¬ 
cle of the constitution of this State, concern¬ 
ing impeachment, respectfully report: 

That they have had the same under con¬ 
sideration, and recommend that the following 
provisions be incorporated in the constitution: 

Sec. 1.—The power of impeachment shall 
be vested in the House of Representatives 
alone. 

Sec- 2.—All impeachments shall be tried 
by the Senate and the chief justice of the 
Supreme Court, unless he is interested, in 
which case, the senior associate justice of 
said court shall preside. 

When sitting for that purpose, the Sena¬ 
tors shall be upon oath or affirmation, and 
no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two thirds of the Senators 
present. 

Sec. 3.—The governor and all the civil offi* 
cers shall be liable to impeachment, for any 
misdemeanors in office, but judgment in such 
cases shall not extend further than to remo¬ 
val from office, and disqualification to hold 
any office of honor, trust or profit under this 
State: but the parties convicted shall neverthe- 
11 







42 


Journal of the Co?wention of Louisiana. 


less be liable and subject to indictment, trial and 
mmishment, according to law. 

(Signed) FELIX GARCIA, Chairman. 

Jackson, Aug. 16, 1844. 

Mr Voorhies, of the committee • appointed 
on the preamble of the constitution, made the 
following report, which was read : 

The committee to whom was referred the 
preamble of the constitution of the State of 
Louisiana, have instructed me to report the 
following as a suitable preamble to said con¬ 
stitution, to wit: 

We, the people of the State of Louisiana, 
by our representatives in Convention assem¬ 
bled, in order to secure to all the citizens there¬ 
of the enjoyment of the right of life, liberty and 
property, and of pursuing happiness, do ordain 
and establish the following constitution and ci¬ 
vil form of government. 

(Signed) C. VOORHIES, Chairman. 

Mr. Ratliff, of the committee on contingent 
expenses, made the following report, viz : 

The committee to whom was referred the re¬ 
solution of the House, directingthem to enquire 
into and report the necessity, if any, for the ap¬ 
pointment of two additional clerks for the Con¬ 
vention, have the honor to report, that they have 
had the same under consideration, and beg 
leave to submit the following report: 

The committee cannot doubt for a moment 
but the committe formerly created by a resolu¬ 
tion of this House, to enquire into the number 
of clerks necessary for the Convention and their 
salaries, etc. discharged their duty faithfully, 
and made themselves fully acquainted with the 
subject before they recommended the present 
number. The labors of this Convention have 
not in the slightest degree satisfied them that 
the number recommended by the former com¬ 
mittee is not amply sufficient ; but on the con¬ 
trary, the committee think, that if the clerks 
rsow employed, discharge their duty faithfully 
and with the proper ability, there would be no 
cause of complaint, and no unnecessary delay 
in the business of the Convention. 

The committee admits that after the consti¬ 
tution we are about to prepare is adopted, it may 
be necessary to employ a competent person to 
translate the constitution from English into 
French. 13at that will be but the work of a 
day or two. At the present time they see no 
necessity of increasing the number, and they 
therefore recommend that no additional clerks 
be employed or appointed. 

The foregoing report was read, and on mo¬ 
tion of Mr Winchester, was laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

Mr. Soule presented the following resolu¬ 
tion, which was read: 

Resolved, That an additional clerk be ap¬ 
pointed, whose duty it shall be to translate 
from English into French the reports of the va¬ 


rious committees, and the articles of consti¬ 
tution, as progress is made in the discussion 
of the same. 

Mr Soule moved that the foregoing resolu¬ 
tion be adopted, and Mr Roudousquie calledfor 
the yeas and nays on said adoption. 

Messrs Aubert, Benjamin, Roudousquie, 
Bourg, Brent, Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Humble, La- 
bauve, Legendre,Leonard, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, St’ Amant, Saunders, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Soule, Splane, Voorhies, Vvikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in favor of its adop¬ 
tion—42 yeas ; and Messrs Beatty, Brazeale, 
Brumfield, Cade, Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, King, Lewis, McRea, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, Ratliff, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott ef Feliciana, Sel- 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted against its adoption—• 
25 nays. 

The resolution was consequently adopted. 

Mr Winchester moved that the Convention 
proceed to the election of the translator called 
for by the said foregoing resolution. 

His motion prevailed, and Mr Claiborne 
nominated Mr Edouard Louvet. as a candidate. 

Mr Voorhies moved that the rules be dis¬ 
pensed with, and that the Convention proceed 
to the election viva voce. 

His motion was lost. 

The Convention then proceeded by ballot to 
the said election, sixty-seven delegaies being 
present. 

The votes being deposited, the president ap¬ 
pointed Messrs Claiborne and Briant as tellers, 
and the result of the election was that Mr. Ed¬ 
ouard Louvet had received . 46 votes 

Mr C. Fitz . 3 “ 

“ J. Wrist .... 2 “ 

Blank . * ... 16 “ 


Total . . . 67 “ 

Mr Louvet having received the necessary 
majority of votes, was declared duly elected. 

Mr Boudousquie introduced the following 
resolution, which was read and adopted : 

Resolved, That a committee of enrolment, 
composed of five members, be appointed, 
whose duty it shall be to superintend the enrol¬ 
ment of the proceedings of this Convention, 
and to supervise the translation of the several 
articles to be adopted by this Convention, from 
the English into the French language, and 
vice versa. 

The president appointed Messrs Soule, Ro¬ 
man, Garcia, Eustis and Claiborne of said 
committee. 

Mr Porter, of the committee appointed to re- 






43 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


port a bill of rights, made the following report, 
which was read : 

The committee appointed to report a bill of 
rights, beg leave to represent, that they have 
had the same nnder consideration, and believ¬ 
ing, as they do, that in all republican govern¬ 
ments, and especially in the organic laws 
thereof, that a frequent recurrence to first prin¬ 
ciples is both necessar) r and proper, we there¬ 
fore respectfully recommend and submit to your 
consideration <he following bill of rights,to wit: 

BILL OF RIGHTS. 

That the great and essential principles of li¬ 
berty and free government may be recognized 
and unalterably established, we, the represen¬ 
tatives of the people of the State of Louisiana, 
declare— 

Sec. 1—That all freemen, when they form a 
social compact, are equal, and have certain in¬ 
herent and indefeasable rights, among which 
are those of enjoying and defending life and li¬ 
berty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting 
property and reputation, and of pursuing and 
obtaining safety and happiness. 

Sec. 2-— All political power is inherent in 
the people ; all free governments are founded 
on their authority, and instituted fortheir peace, 
safety and happiness ; public officers are their 
trustees and servants, and at all times amena¬ 
ble to them ; of all forms of government, that 
is the best which is capable of producing the 
greatest degree of happiness and safety t,o the 
greatest numberofpersons,&is most effectually 
secured against the dangers of mal-administra- 
lion ; and when any form of government shall 
be found inadequate or contrary to those pur¬ 
poses, a majority of the community have an un¬ 
alienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter 
or abolish their form of government in such 
manner as they may think most conducive to 
the public weal. 

Sec. 3.—That all men have a natural and 
indefeasable right to worship Almighty God 
according to the dictates of their own con- 
science; that no man can of right be compelled 
to attend, erect or support any place of worship, 
or to maintain any minister or priest against his 
consent , that no human anthority can, in any 
case whatever, control or interfere with the 
rights of conscience ; and that no preference 
shall over he given, by law, to any religious 
establishment or mode of worship. 

Sec. 4.—That no religious test shall ever be 
required as a qualification to any office or pub¬ 
lic trust under this State. 

Sec. 5.—That all electious shall be free and 
equal. 

Sec. 6 . —That the right of trial by jury shall 
remain inviolate. 

Sec. 7. —That the people shall be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers and possessions, 
from unreasonable searches and seizures, and 
that general warrants, whereby an officer may 


be commanded to search suspected places with¬ 
out evidence of the fault committed, or to seize 
any person or persons not named, whose offen¬ 
ces are not particularly described and supported 
by evidence, are dangerous to liberty, and ought 
not to be granted. 

Sec. 8. —That no free man shall be taken or 
imprisoned, or deseized of his freehold, liber¬ 
ties or privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in 
any manner destroyed or deprived of bis life, 
liberty or property»but in pursuance of the judg¬ 
ment of his peers, or the law of the land. 

Sec. 9.—That in all criminal prosecutions, 
the accused hath a right to he heard by him¬ 
self and his council, to demand the nature and 
cause of the accusation against him, and to have 
a copy thereof, to meet the witness face to face, 
o have compulsory process for obtaining wit¬ 
nesses in bis favor, ^nd in prosecution by in¬ 
dictment or presentment, a speedy public trial 
by an impartial jury of the county or district in 
which the crime shall have been committed, 
and shall not be compelled to give evidence 
against himself. 

Sec. 10 . —That no person shall, for the same 
offence be twice put in jeopardy of life or 
liberty. 

Sec. 11.—That laws made for the punish¬ 
ment of facts committed previous to the exist¬ 
ence of such laws, and by them only declared 
criminal, are contrary to the principles of free 
government, wherefore no ex post facto law 
shall be made. 

Sec. 12.—That no person arrested or con¬ 
fined in jail shall be treated with unnecessary 
rigor. 

o _ 

Sec. 13.—That no free white man shall be 
put to answer any criminal charge but by infor¬ 
mation, presentment, indictment or impeach¬ 
ment. 

Sec. 14.—That all prisoners shall be bailable 
by sufficient securities, unless for capital offen¬ 
ces, when the proof is evident or the presump¬ 
tion great. And the privilege of the writ of 
habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless 
when, in the case of rebellion or invasion, the 
public safety may require it. 

Sec. 15.—That excessive bail shall not be 
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel 
and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Sec. 16.—That all courts shall be open; and 
every man for an injury done him, in his lands, 
goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy 
by due course of law, and right and justice ad¬ 
ministered without sale, denial or delay. Suits 
may be brought against the State in such man¬ 
ner and in such courts as the legislature may by 
law direct. 

Sec. 17.—That the person of a debtor, when 
there is not strong presumption of fraud, shall 
not be confined in prison after the deli very up of 
his estate for the benefit of his creditor.or credi- 






44 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


rsot, in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 18.—That the printing press shall free 
to every person who undertakes to examine the 
proceedings of the legislature, or of any branch 
or officers of the government; and no law, shall 
ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The 
free communication of thoughts and opinions is 
one of the invaluable rights of man, and every 
citizen may freely speak and write and print 
on any subject, being responsible for the abuse 
of that liberty. But in prosecuting for the pub¬ 
lication of papers investigating the official con¬ 
duct of officers or men in public capacity, the 
truth thereof may be given in evidence ; and in 
all indictments or prosecutions for libels, the 
jury shall have a right to determine the law 
and the facts under the direction of the court, 
as in other criminal cases. 

Sec. 19.—That no retrospective law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be 
made. 

Sec. 20.—That no man’s particular services 
shall be demanded, or property taken or ap¬ 
plied to public use, without the consent of his 
representative or without just compensation be¬ 
ing made therefor. 

Sec. 21. —That perpetuities and monopolies 
are contrary to the genius of a free state, and 
shall not be allowed. 

Sec. 22. —That the citizens have a right, in 
a peacable manner to assemble together for the 
common good, to instruct their representatives, 
and to apply to those invested with the powers 
of gvornment, for redress of grievances or other 
proper purposes, by address or remonstrance. 

Sec. 23. —That, the sure and certain defence 
of a free people is a well regulated militia, and 
as standing armies in time of peace are dange¬ 
rous to freedom, they ought to be avoided as far 
as the circumstances and safety of the commu¬ 
nity will admit; and that in all cases the mili¬ 
tary shall be kept in strict subordination to the 
civil authority. 

Sec. 24. —That the free white men of this 
State have a right to keep and bear antis in de¬ 
fence of themselves and the State. 

Sec. 25. —That an equal participation of the 
navigation of the Mississippi river is one of the 
inherent rights of the citizens of this State ; it 
cannot therefore be conceded to any prince, po¬ 
tentate, power, person or persons whatever. 

Sec. 26. —That no hereditary emoluments, 
privileges or honors shall ever be granted or 
conferred in this State. 

Sec. 27. —That the legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution,and the juris¬ 
diction of this State over all the territory, claim¬ 
ed at this time by the State of Louisiana, or 
which may hereafter be ascertained to be with¬ 
in her limits, or over any territory acquired by 
compact with any State, or with the United 


States, the same being done by consent of the 
United States. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, leave of absence 
was granted for a few r days to Mr. Ledoux. 

On motion of Mr. Penn, leave of absence 
was also granted to Messrs. Burton, Read and 
McCalop. 

On motion of Mr. Grimes, leave of absence 
was also granted for a few days to Mr. Au¬ 
gustin Duplantier, one of the translating clerks. 

Mr. Beatty presented the following resolu¬ 
tion : 

Resolved , That a committee of five mem¬ 
bers be appointed, to enquire into the capacity 
of the translating clerks of this Convention to 
perform the duties of their office, and to report 
thereon without delay; as well as on the ex¬ 
pediency of dispensing with the services of 
one or more of them. 

Said resolution was read, and Mr. Beatty 
moved its adoption, and called for the yeas and 
nays: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Derbcs, 
Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Marigriy, Mayo, 
Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, 
St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, W T ederstrandt, Wikoff and Win¬ 
der voted in favor of its adoption—58 yeas. 

And Messrs. Carriere, Culbertson, Roman, 
Splane and Winchester voted against its adop¬ 
tion—5 navs. 

The resolution was consequently adopted, 
and the President appointed Messrs. Beatty, 
Boudousquic, Grymes, Lewis and Mazureau 

Mr. Ratliff, of the Committee on Contingent 
Expenses, presented the following resolution, 
which was read and adopted : 

Resolved , That the sum of twenty-four dol¬ 
lars be allowed to Charles Fitz, for his servi¬ 
ces as acting clerk of this Convention during 
the first four days of its sittings, and that a 
warrant in the usual form be given him upon 
the Treasurer of this State for the same. 

Mr. Downs gave notice that he would, on 
Monday, move lor the consideration of ihe fol¬ 
lowing resolution, adopted on yesterday, viz : 

Resolved , That the contested election from 
the parish of Orleans be recommitted to the 
Committee on Elections, with instructions to 
receive ail legal evidence offered by the par- 
lies, and report as early as possible. 

Mr. Dunn moved that the Convention ad¬ 
journ till Monday next, at 12 o’clock, M. 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 46 


Mr. Downs called for the yeas and nays on 
said motion, and the result was, that 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin. Boudous- 
quie, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Gui- 
on, King-, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McRae, 
Mazareau, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, Rose- 
lins, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, WaddilJ, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in favor of its 
adoption—39 yeas. 

And Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Couvillon, 
Downs, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, 
Marigny, Mayo, 0 Bryan, Peels, Penn, Porter, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Voor- 
hieS and Wikoff voted against its adoption— 
28 nays. 

The Convention therefore adjourned till 
Monday next, at 12 o’clock, M. 

Messrs. Chinn, Kenner and Trist, absent on 
account of indisposition. 

Messrs. Burton, Read andMcCalop, absent 

on leave. - 

Monday, 19th August, 1844. 

The convention met pursuant to adjournment. 

The proceedings were opened with prayer, 
by the Reverend Mr. Smith. 

Mr. Lewis, on behalf of the majority ap¬ 
pointed on General Provisions made the fol¬ 
lowing report, wdiich was read. 

The committee to whom was referred the 
subject of the general provisions of the consti¬ 
tution of the State of Louisiana as contained in 
the sixth article of the constitution, with in¬ 
structions “to recommend such changes, alter¬ 
ations and amendments, as they may deem 
proper and expedient” in said general provi¬ 
sions—respectfully submit the following re¬ 
port: 

Article VI .—General Provisions. 

Sect. 1 — Members of the general assembly, 
and all officers, executive and judicial, before 
they enter upon the execution of their respect¬ 
ive offices, shall take the following oath or 
affirmation. 

“I (A B) do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
“I will faithfully and impartially discharge and 
“perform all the duties incumbent on me as 
“ according to the best of my abil¬ 

ities and understanding, agreably to the rules 
“and regulations of the constitution and laws 
“of the State. So help me God.” 

Sect. 2d—Treason against the State shall 
consist only in levying war against it, or in 
adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and 
comfort. No person shall be convicted of trea¬ 
son, unless on the testimony of two witnesses 


to the same overt act, or his own confession in 
open Court. 

Sect. 3d—Every person shall be forever 
disqualified from serving as Governor, Senator, 
or Representative, and from holding any other 
office of trust or profit in this State, who shall 
have been convicted of having Mven, or offered, 
any bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 

Sect. 4—Laws shall be made to exclude 
from office and from the right of suffrage those 
who shall hereafter be convicted of bribery, 
perjury, forgery, or other high crimes or mis¬ 
demeanors: the privilege of free suffrage shall 
be supported by law : s regulating elections and 
prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue 
influence thereon, from power, bribery, tumult, 
or other improper practices. 

Sect. 5 —No money shall be drawn from the 
treasury but in pursuance of specific oppropria- 
tions made by law; nor shall any oppropriation 
of money for the support of an army be made 
for a longer term than one year. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and ex¬ 
penditures of all public money shall be pub¬ 
lished annually, in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sect. 6 —It shall be the duty of the general 
assembly to pass such laws as may be neces¬ 
sary and proper to decide differences by arbi¬ 
tration, to be appointed by the parties, who 
may choose that summary mode of adjustment. 

Sect. 7—All civil officers for the State at 
large shall reside within the State, and all dis¬ 
trict or parish officers within their respective 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their res¬ 
pective offices at such places therein as may 
be required bv law. And no person shall be 

A a. 

elected or appointed to any district or parish 
office who shall not have resided in such dis¬ 
trict or parish long enough before such election 
cr appointment to have acquired the right of 
voting for Representatives to the general as- 
semby, in such district or parish. 

Sect. 8—The Legislature shall determine 
the time of duration of the several public offices 
when such time shall not have been fixed by 
this Constitution. Provided that such time shall 
never exceed four years, except Notaries pub¬ 
lic, whose time of office may be extended to 
seven years; and all civil officers except the 
Governor and Judges ot the superior and infe¬ 
rior Courts shall be removeable by an address 
of a majority of the members of both Houses, 
except those the removal of whom has been 
otherwise provided for by this Constitution. 

Sect. 9 —Absence on the business of this 
State or of the United States, shall not forfeit 
a residence once obtained, so as to deprive any 
one of the right of suffrage, or of being elected 
or appointed to any office under this State, 
under the exceptions contained in this consti¬ 
tution. 

12 






4(5 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Sect. 10—It shall be the duty of the general 
assembly to regulate by law, in what cases, 
and what deduction from the salaries of public 
officers shall be made for neglect of duty in 
their official capacity. 

Sect. 11—Returns of all elections for mem¬ 
bers of the general assembly, shall be made to 
the secretary of State for the time being. 

Sect. 12—The Legislature shall point out 
the manner in which a person coming in the 
country shall declare his residence. 

Sect. 13—In all elections by the people the 
vote shall be by ballot; and in all elections by 
the Senate and House of Representatives joint¬ 
ly or separately the vote shall be given viva 
voce. 

Sect. 14—Nomember of Congress nor per¬ 
son holding or exercising any office of trust or 
profit under the United States, or either of 
them, ot under any foreign power, shall be eli¬ 
gible as a member of the general assembly of 
this State, or hold or exercise any office of 
trust or profit under the same. 

Sect. 15—All laws that may be passed by 
the Legislature, and the public records of this 
State, and the judicial and legislative written 
proceedings of the same, shall be promulgated, 
preserved and conducted in the language in 
which the constitution of the United States is 
written. 

Sect. 16—The general assembly shall direct 
by law, how persons who are now or may 
hereafter become securities for public officers, 
may be relieved or discharged on account of 
such securityship. 

Sect. 17—No power of suspending the laws 
of this State shall be exercised, unless by the 
Legislature or its authority. 

Sect. 18—in all criminal prosecutions, the 
accused shall have the right of being heard by 
himself or counsel, of demanding the nature 
and cause of the accusation against him, of 
meeting the witnesses face to lace, of having 
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in 
his favor throughout the State, and prosecution 
by indictment or information; a speedy public 
trial by an impartial jury of the vicinage, nor 
shall he be compelled to give evidence against 
himself. 

Sect. 19—All prisoners shall be bailable by 
sufficient securities, unless for capital offences 
where the proof is evident or presumption 
great; and the privilege of the writ of habeas 
corpus shall not be suspeoded, unless when in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
may require it. 

Sect. 20—No ex post facto law, nor any law 
impairing the obligation of contracts shall be 
passed. 

Sect. 21—Printing presses shall be free to 
every person who may undertake to examine 
the proceedings of the Legislature, or any 
branch of the government, and no lav/ shall 


ever be made to restrain the right thereof. The 
free communication of thoughts and opinions is 
one of the invaluable rights of man, and every 
citizen may freely speak, write and print on 
any subject, being responsible for the abuse of 
that liberty. 

Sect. 22—Emigration from the State shall 
not be prohibited. 

Sect. 23 —The first general assembly to be 
elected under this constitution shall determine 
upon the place where the seat of government 
of the State shall be permanently located from 
and after the first day of January in the year 
one thousand eight hundred and fifty. 

Sect. 24 —The Legislature shall not have 
power or authority to pledge the faith of the 
Stale as security lor the payment of any bonds, 
bills or other contracts or obligations whatever; 
nor to borrow money for any purpose whatever, 
except for defraying the expense of war, or for 
the purpose of repelling an invasion of the 
State by an armed force, or of suppressing an 
insurrection. 

Sect. 25—The Legislature shall provide by 
law fora change of venue in civil and criminal 
cases. 

Sect. 26—No lottery shall be anthotized by 
this State, and the buying and selling of lottery 
tickets within the State shall be prohibited by 
law. 

Sect. 27—No divorce shall be granted by 
the Legislature of this State. 

Sect. 28—Every law enacted by the Legis¬ 
lature shall embrace but one object, and that 
shall be expressed in the title. 

Sect, 29 —Every law of a general nature 
shall be equally applicable to all parts of the 
State. 

Sect. 30 —No law shall be revived, or 
amended by reference to its title, but in such 
case the act revived, or section amended, shall 
he re-enacted and published at length. 

Sect. 31 —The State shall not become subs¬ 
criber to the stock of any corporation or joint 
stock company. 

Sect. 32— No person shall hold or exercise, 
at the same time, more than one civil office in 
this State, except one of such offices be that of 
a justice of the peace. 

Sect. 33— No corporate body shall be here¬ 
after created, renewed or extended, with bank¬ 
ing or discounting privileges, withont six 
months previous public notice of the intended 
application for the same in such maimer as 
shall be prescribed by law; nor shall any chart¬ 
er, for the purpose aforesaid, be granted for a 
longer period than twenty years; and every 
such charter shall contain a clause reserving to 
the Legislature the power to alter, revoke or 
annul the same, whenever, in their opinion, it 
may be expedient to do so: and every charter 
so granted, shall be upon the express condition 
that the share-holders or members of such cor- 







47 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


poration shall he hound personally and insolido, 
for all ihe liabilities and acts of such corpora¬ 
tion, and for the consequences resulting there¬ 
from. 

Sect. 34—All charters heretofore granted by 
the Legislature shall determine on the first day 
of January in the year one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and ninety, when no earlier limit has been 
fixed in the act of incorporation; and no corpo¬ 
rate privileges hereafter to be created shall ever 
endure for a longer term than twenty five years: 
provided that this section shall not apply to 
political and municipal corporations. 

Sect. 35—The general assembly shall never 
grant any exclusive privilege or monopoly in 
such form as to prevent any subsequent Legis¬ 
lature from granting similar privileges to other 
individuals or corporations. 

Sect. 3G—Slaves shall he forever held and 
considered as immoveables, and shall be regu¬ 
lated by the same laws as other immoveable 
properiy. 

Sect. 37—All commissions shall be in the 
name and by the authority of the Stale of Loui¬ 
siana, sealed with the State seal and signed by 
the Governor. 

Sect. 38—The constitution and laws of this 
State shall be published in the French as well 
as in the English language, as heretofore. 

The foregoing report is submited by order of 
a majority of your committee, as the result of 
their joint deliberations. 

Most of the members of the committee dis¬ 
sent from one or more of the sections now re¬ 
ported, and reserve the right of presenting their 
objections when such sections shall come up 
for discussion in the convention, as a mode, 
less likely to lead to confusion, than by making 
separate reports. 

On behalf of the committee, 

(Signed) THOS. H. LEWIS, 

Chairman. 

Mr. Voorhies presented the following reso¬ 
lution, which was read: 

“Resolved That this convention will adjourn 
on Thursday the 22d instant, to meet again on 
the 2d Monday of January next, at 12 o’clock 
meridian. 

Mr. Lewis enquired of the president whether 
the order of the day had not the preference 
over the resolution just offered. 

The president decided, that in the absence of 
any positive rule, he considered a motion to 
take up the order of the day, after 12 o’clock, 
as in order. The 32d rule adopted by the con¬ 
vention requires that the unfinished business at 
the last adjournment shall have precedence in 
the orders of the day, and according to the prac¬ 
tice of the House of Representatives, the orders 
of the day are always taken up at 12 o’clock - 
that hour having passed, if a motion were made 
& seconded that the orders of the day be taken 


C up, the president decided that the motion would 
j be in order. 

Mr. Saunders than moved that the convention 
j take up the order of the day, which was Ihe re- 
i port made by the majority of the committee of 
elections, in relation to the contested seats of 
Messrs. Conrad of Orleans and Benjamin. 

Mr. Conrad of Jefferson called for the yeas 
and nays on Mi. Saunders’ motion 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Chambliss, 
Downs, Dunn, Humble, Hynson, Kino-, Leon- 
; ard, McCalop, McRea, Marigny, Mayo, Peels, 

: Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Saund¬ 
ers, Scott of Baton-Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt and Wikoff voted in favor of the mo¬ 
tion,—30 yeas. 

And Messrs. Aubert,Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hud¬ 
speth, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre,Lewis, Ma- 
zureau, Penn, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Koselius, St. Amant, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Tayl >r of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Winchester and Winder voted against 
the motion—41 nays. 

Mr. Saunders’ motion was consequently 
lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to lay the resolution on 
the table subject to call. 

Mr. Downs called for the yeas and nays, on 
Mr. Lewis’ motion: 

Messrs.Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade,Cham¬ 
bliss, Downs, Dunn, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, King, Leonard, Lewis, McCalop, McRea, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton- 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Wikolf voted in favor 
of the motion—35 yeas. 

And Messrs. Aubert,Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, Labauve, Legendre, Mazureau, Penn. 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St, 
Amant, Sellers, Soule, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Winchester & Winder, voted against 
the motion—37 nays. 

The motion was consequently lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to substitute Saturday the 
24th inst. for Thursday 22d. 

Mr. Voorhies accepted the amendment, 

Mr. Humble moved to amend the said reso¬ 
lution by striking out after the words “will ad¬ 
journ on,” the words “Saturday 24th inst,” and 









48 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


inserting in their stead the words “1st Monday 
of October next.” 

Mr. Genas moved that the resolutien be 
divided,and that the question be put on the first 
part thereof, which was in the following words, 
as proposed to be amended by M. Humble. 

“Resolved that this convention will adjourn 
on the 1st Monday of October next.” 

And Mr. Downs called for the yeas and nays 
on Mr. Humble’s amendment. 

And Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton,Cham¬ 
bliss, Downs, Dunn, Humble, Hynson, Leon¬ 
ard, McRea, Maiigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton-Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Waddill, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Wikoff voted in favor of its adop¬ 
tion—26 yeas. 

And Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, McCalop, Mazureau, Penn, 
Porche, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, 
Sellers, Soule, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester arid Winder 
voted against it—46 nays. 

Mr. Leonard moved to amend the said reso¬ 
lution by inserting the words “1st: Tuesday in 
September ” instead of the words “ Saturday 
24th inst .” 

Mr. Leonard said that he made the motion 
with a view of testing the sense of the House; 
that he would himself vote against it. 

And Mr. Guion called for the yeas and nays 
on said amendment. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
qnie, B ourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans. 
Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, Culbertson, 
Derbes, D owns, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia,Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCalop, McRea, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peels, Penn, Pnrche, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pjeston, Prud- 
homtne, Pugh. Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton-Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Winchester & Winder 
voted against said amendment—72 nays. No 
} r eas. 

The amendment was consequently lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the convention ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow at 9 o’clock A. M. 

His motion was lost. 


Mr. Kenner moved that the call of the con¬ 
vention be made. 

His motion prevailed, and the following 
members were present, viz: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, president; Beatty, 
Benjamin, Bdudousquie, Boutg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou¬ 
villon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCalop, 
McRea, Marigny, Mavo, Mazureau, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Saundeis, Scott 
of Baton-Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens 
Taylor of St. Landry,Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth,Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Winchester 
and Winder. 

Mr. Saunders moved that the convention 
adjourn till' to-morrow at 9 o’clock, A. M. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs renewed Mr. Sannders’ motion 
to adjourn till 9 o’clock, A. M. 

Said motion was again lost. 

Mr. Downs then rose to a point of order. 

And pending his debate on motion of Mr. 
Chinn, the convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at 9 o’clock A. M. 

Note. —Mr. Taylor of Assumption absent on- 
account of indisposition. Mr O’Btyan absent. 


Tuesday, 20th August, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Dr. Lacey opened the preceedings 
by prayer. 

The President requested that the Conven¬ 
tion adopt a rule in relation to the orders of the* 
day. 

Air. Downs enquired of Mr. Winchester if 
the counter report of the minority of the com¬ 
mittee appointed on the legislative department, 
was prepared. 

Mr. Winchester replied that one of the mem¬ 
bers in the minority of said committee was ab¬ 
sent till tins day, and that to-morrow morning 
said report will be made. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The Convention took up the following reso¬ 
lution, the first part of which was under con¬ 
sideration at the adjournment yesterday. 

Resolved, That this Convention will adjourn 
on Saturday the 24th inst., to meet again on 
the 2d Monday of January next at 12 o’clock, 
meridian. 

Mr. McRae presented the following resolu¬ 
tion as a substitute to the foregoing ; 

Be it Resolved , That this Convention adjourn 
on Monday next until the second Monday of 









September next, and that no mil eage bepaid 
tor going or returning from home, but instead 
of which each member shall be paid his travel¬ 
ing expenses. 

Mr. Beatty called for the previous question, 
and his motion prevailed. 

Mr. Beatty then called for the yeas and nays 
on the adoption of the said foregoing first part, 
and the result was that 

Messrs Aubcrt, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg,Briant,Brumfield, Carriere, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes. Eustis, 
Garret, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King-, LaBauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Penn, Porche, Prudhomine, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Sellers, Soule, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Winchester and Winder, voted for its 
adoption—42 yeas ; and 

Messrs Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade,Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Downs, Dunn, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Leonard, McCalop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Brian, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff, 
voted against its adoption—33 nays; it was 
consequently adopted. 

The following which was the second part of 
said resolution was read, viz : 

To meet again on the 2d Monday of January 
next at 12 o’clock, meridian; and Mr Downs 
moved to strike out of said resolution tho “se¬ 
cond Monday of January,” which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Cade moved to insert the 3d Monday of 
January,and called for the yeas and nays on the 
adoption of said amendment, and 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brent, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Dunn, 
Eustis, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Lewis, McCalop, Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Pugh, Rad- 
liff, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, Weder¬ 
strandt, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in favor of the adoption of said amendment— 
33 yeas ; and 

Messrs Benjamin, Brazeale, Briant, Brum- 
iield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, 
Kenner, King, J^aBauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard, McR.ae,Mayo, O’Brian, Penn,Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Scott of Madison,Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Trist, Voorhies, and Waddill voted against 
its adoption—39 nays ; said amendment was 
consequently lost. 

Mr. Guion then moved to insert the words: 


‘*2d Tuesday of January,” and called for the 
yeas and nays on the adoption of the same ; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie, 
Bourg. Brent, Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillion, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, King, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCalop, Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme,Pugh, Rad- 
liff, Roman, St. Amant, Saunders, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Triest, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted for its adoption—46 yeas ; and 

Messrs Benjamin, Brazeale, Briant, Burton, 
Carriere, Culbertson, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, 
Humble, LaBauve, Ledoux, Leonard, McRae, 
Mayo, O’Biyan, Penn,Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Read, Roselius, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens and Waddill voted 
against its adoption—29 nays ; and the said 
amendment was consequently adopted. 

Mr. Winchester moved for the adoption of 
that lesolutionas amended, and called for the 
yeas and nays on said motion ; and the result 
was as follows : 

Messrs Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous¬ 
quie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Couvillon, Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Gr)%ies, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King*, Legendre. 
Lewis, Mazureau, Porche, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prudhomine, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amant, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth. Wikofij 
Winchester and Winder voted in favor of its 
adoption—39 yeas ; and 

Messrs Walker, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, La¬ 
Bauve, Ledoux, Leonard, McCalop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Brian, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt, voted against its 
adoption—37 nays. Said rssolution was con¬ 
sequently adopted as amended. 

Mr. Grymes, on behalf of the majority of the 
committee appointed on the Judiciary, made 
tho following report: 

The Judiciary Committee report to the Con¬ 
vention the following sections of article 4th 
of the Constitution, concerning the Judiciary 
Department. 

(Signed,) JLO. R. GRYMES, 

Chairman. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be vest¬ 
ed in a supreme court, in district courts, to be 
established throughout the State, in justices of. 
the peace of such other courts in the city of 

IB 







«/ 


New Orleans, as the Legislature may from time 
to time direct. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have ap¬ 
pelate jurisdiction only, except in cases herein¬ 
after provided, which jurisdiction shall extend 
to all cases when the matter in dispute shall 
exceed five hundred dollars. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be com¬ 
posed of one chief justice and of three asso¬ 
ciate justices, a majority of whom shall consti¬ 
tute a quorum, each of said judges shall re¬ 
ceive a salary of-thousand dollars an¬ 

nually. The said court shall appoint its own 
clerks. The said judges shall be appomtedby 
the Governor by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate for the term of ten years. 

Sec. 4. The*6upreme court shall hold its 
sessions in the city of New Orleans from the 
month of November to the month of June in¬ 
clusive. The Legislature shall have power to 
fix the sessions elsewhere during the rest of 
the year. Until otherwise provided, the ses¬ 
sions shall be held in New Orleans. 

Sec. 5. The supreme court and each of the 
judges thereof shall have power to issue writs 
of habeas corpus , at the instance of all persons 
in actual custody under civil process. 

Sec. 6. The appellate jurisdiction of the 
supreme court shall extend to all cases in 
which the constitutionality or legality of any 
tax, toll or impost of any kind or nature soever 
shall be in contestation, whatever may be the 
amount thereof, and likewise to all fines, for¬ 
feitures and penalties imposed by municipal 
corporations. 

Sec. 7. The supreme court shall have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction in criminal cases on ques¬ 
tions of law alone, in all cases in which the 
punishment of death or hard labor may be in¬ 
flicted or a fine exceeding three hundred dol¬ 
lars is actually imposed. 

Sec. 8. In all cases in which the judges shall 
be equally divided in opinion, the judgement 
appealed from shall stand affirmed, in which 
case each of the judges shall give his seperate 
opinion in writing. 

Sec. 9. The judges by virtue of their office 
shall be conservators of the peace throughout 
the State. The style of all process shall be 
“ The State of Louisiana.” All prosecutions 
shall be carried on in the name and by the au¬ 
thority of the State of Louisiana and conclude 
against the peace and dignity of the same. 

Sec. 10. The judges of all courts shall in all 
cases give in writing their reasons on which 
their judgement is founded. 

o o 

Sec. 11. No court or judge of any court ap¬ 
pointed under this Constitution shall exercise 
any jurisdiction or perform any functions but 
such as are purely judicial, and no other duties 
or functions shall ever be attached by law to 
the office of a judge but such as are judicial. 


Sec. 12. No court or judge of any court shall 
ever have the power by any order or judgment, 
in any suit, process, or other proceedings be¬ 
fore them, or pending in such court, to order or 
adjudge any money to be paid by the parties to 
such suits onproceedingSjOr to make any allow¬ 
ance out of any money or property that may be 
in actual custody of said court or the officers 
thereof except for the payment of the legal fees 
of the ministerial officer of the said court, as 
allowed and established bv law. 

Sec. 13. The judges of all courts shall be 
liable to impeachment, but for any reasonable 
cause which shall not be held sufficient ground 
for impeachment, the Governor shall remove 
any of them on the address of three-fourths of 
each blouse of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 14. There shall be an Attorney Gene¬ 
ral for the State and as many other prosecut¬ 
ing Attorneys for the State as may hereafter be 
found necessary. The said Attorneys shall be 
appointed by the Governor with the advice and 
approbation of the Senate. Their duties shall 
be determined by law. 

Sec. 15. The State shall be divided into the 
following judicial districts, in each of which 
one judge learned in the law,shall be appointed. 
Said districts shall remain unchanged until the 
first day of January eighteen hundred and fifty- 
one. 

The First District shall be composed of the 
Parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard and Or¬ 
leans. 

Second District of the Parishes of St. Charles 
and Jefferson. 

Third District of the Parishes of Ascension, 
St. James and St. John the Baptist. 

Fourth District of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne. 

Fifth District Iberville, West Baton Rouge 
and Pointe Coupee. 

Sixth District East Feliciana and West Fe¬ 
liciana. 

Seventh District of St. Helena, Washington 
and St. Tammany. 

Eighth District of East Baton Rouge and Li¬ 
vingston. 

Ninth District of Natchitoches and Clai¬ 
borne. 

Tenth District of Caddo and Bossier. 

Eleventh District of Rapides and Avoyelles. 

Twelfih District of Sabine and Calcasieu. 

Thirteenth District of St. Landry and La¬ 
fayette. 

Fourteenth District of St. Mary. St. Martin 
and Vermillion. 

Fifteenth District of Union, Morehouse and 
Ouachita. 

Sixteenth District of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula. 

Seventeenth District of Carroll and Madison. 


{ 






'V WVV» VVVI vw • 


t /\JU>I ICtilr UJ tl/»V W<«’ 

Eighteenth District of Tensas and Concor¬ 
dia. 

Sec 16. After the 1st of January 1851, the 
Legislature may re-organise the said Districts, 
which shall remain unchanged for ten years 
thereafter, and he subject to re-organization 
once in every ten years: provided -the number 
of districts shall never be less than eighteen or 
more than twenty-four. 

Sec. 17. Whenever a new parish shall be 
formed out of two or more parishes belonging 
to different districts, the said new parish shall 
be attached to one of them. 

Sec. 18. Each of said judges shall receive a 
■salary of not less than twenty-five hundred dol¬ 
lars annually. He must be a citizen of the 
United States over the age of thirty years and 
have resided in the State for six years next 
proceeding his appointment and have practised 
law therein for the space of five years. 

Sec. 19. The judges of said district courts, 
and of the courts to be established in the city 
of New Orleans, shall hold their offices for the 
term of six years, and shall be appointed by 
the Governor by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate: provided , that when the 
first appointments made under this Constitution 
are made, six of said district judges shall be 
appointed for the term of two years, six for the 
term of four years, and six for the term of six 
years. 

Sec. 20. The said district courts shall have 
general original jurisdiction in all civil cases 
when the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dol¬ 
lars. In all criminal cases, and in all matters 
connected with successions their jurisdiction 
shall be unlimited. 

Sec. 21. The Legislature shall have power 
to vest in clerks of courts authority to grant 
such orders and do such acts as mav be deem- 

o 

ed necessary for the furtherance of the admin¬ 
istration of justice, and in all cases the powers 
thus granted shall be specific and determined. 

Sec. 22. The clerks of the several courts 
shall be rcmoveable for breach of good beha¬ 
vior by the judges thereof, subject in all cases 
to an appeal to the supreme court. 

Sec. 23. The jurisdiction of justices of the 
peace shall never exceed in civil cases the sum 
of fifty dollars. They shall be elected by the 
qualified voters of each parish for the term of 
-years. 

Sec. 24. The judges of the supreme court 
and district courts provided for in this Consti¬ 
tution shall be appointed and commissioned as 
soon as possible after this Constitution shall 
go into effect. And the Legislature shall pro¬ 
vide for the removal of all causes now pending 
in the supreme or other courts of the Ntate 
under the present Constitution to the supreme 
and district courts created by this Constitution 


1/ i/f VI/vviv »yji 

( and to the other courts that may be created by 
| the Legislature for the city of New Orieans. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
: to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, A. M. 

Wednesday, 21st August, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad- 
| journment. 

The Rev’d. Mr. Chamberlain opened 
the proceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Bourg moved that leave of ab¬ 
sence be granted Mr. Pugh, and the 
same was granted. 

Mr. Ratliff offered the following reso¬ 
lution which was read: 

Resolved, That the members of this 
; Convention be allowed mileage from their 
; actual residence to the Convention Hall 
i in the town of Jackson, to be computed 
; by the ordinary routes from their said 
' residence to Jackson, Louisiana, and that 
they receive their warrants for the same 
accordingly. 

Mr. Grymes moved the rejection of the 
above resolution, and his motion prevail¬ 
ed. 

Order of the day. 

The Convention took into consideration 
| the contested election of the delegates 
from New Orleans, and pending the dis¬ 
cussion, Mr. Benjamin moved that the 
i order of the day be laid on the table, sub- 
I ject to call. 

Mr. Brent offered the following reso¬ 
lution, which was read : 

Resolved , That it is the opinion of this 
j Convention, by which it will be govern¬ 
ed in contested elections, that the receiv- 
1 ing and return of votes by a single Judge 
or Inspector of elections is illegal, and 
i that the votes thus returned will not be 
counted, and farther, that the votes of 
Dersons holding certificates of naturali¬ 
zation in due form of law, issued from 
tne City Court of Lafayette, or any court 
of record; provided the said persons have 
the other qualifications required by the 
1 Constitution, shall be received, unless 
the challenging party shall prove to the 
satisfaction of the Inspectors of Election 
that the certificates are false or faudulent, 

1 and that the person offering to vote is not 
i entitled to said certificate of naturaliza¬ 
tion ; and it is further the opinion of this 
Convention, that when the inspectors of 










election are equally divided in opinion as 
to the reception of a vote, it cannot be 
received : but if the person offering to 
vote protests, stating in the protest the 
names of the candidates for whom he 
votes, the vote will be counted in case of 
a contested election should the Conven¬ 
tion be of opinion that he was a qualified 
voter; and it is farther, the opinion of the 
Convention, that in case of an equal di¬ 
vision of opinion of the inspectors as to 
a vote offered, the polls should not be 
closed, but the inspectors shall proceed 
to receive the votes of all qualified elec¬ 
tors until thefhour fixed by law for clos¬ 
ing the polls. 

Mr. Guyon moved an adjournment and 
called for the yeas and nays. 

M essrs. Aubert, Beatley, Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Labauve, Stephens, 
Wadsworth and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—.19 Yeas. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carnere, Cenas, Chambliss, Convillon, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eus- 
tis, Grymes, Humble, Hynsori, Kenner, 
King, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lew¬ 
is, IVJcCalop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, 
Saunders, Scott of Button Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Laudry, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative.—55 Nays. 
Cconsequently the motion was rejected. 

Mr. Grymes moved that the resolution 
be laid on the table and made the order 
of the day for tomorrow, which motion 
prevailed, and the printing thereof or¬ 
dered. 

Mr. Cenas offered the following resolu¬ 
tion which was read : 

Resolved , That the Secretary be au¬ 
thorized to appoint an assistant at his own 
expense whose duty it shall be to supply 
bis place during the adjournment, when¬ 
ever he is prevented from attending there¬ 
to from sickness or any other sufficient I 


cause; Provided , however , that the Sec¬ 
retary shall be at all times responsible for 
the actions of his said assistant. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the said res¬ 
olution be laid on the table till to-morrow. 

Mr. Lewis offered the following reso¬ 
lution and moved that the same be laid on 
the table till to-morrow : 

Resolved , That it shall be the duty of 
the secretary to superintend the printing 
of the reports of the committees and 
other documents ordered to be printed 
during the adjournment of the Conven¬ 
tion, and that he do transmit--copies of 

each of said reports to each of the mem¬ 
bers of this Convention at their respect¬ 
ive residences as soon as possible. 

Mr. Mayo offered the fo lie wing resolu¬ 
tion and moved that the same be laid on 
the table till to-morrow: 

Resolved y That the printer to this Con¬ 
vention be instructed by the Secretary, 
not to include in the book to contain a 
journal of the proceedings to be printed 
by him, any of the speeches or proceed¬ 
ings of the Convention relative to the 
contested elections — nor relative to mo¬ 
tions made and withdrawn by the mover,, 
nor any of the speeches made relative to 
adjournment. 

Mr. Penn on behalf of the committee 
appointed on the Schedule submitted a 
provisional report with leave to sit again. 

The committee to whom was referred 
the eighth article of the Constitution or 
Schedule beg leave to submit the follow¬ 
ing provisional report and ask leave to set 
again, whenever the various alterations 
and amendments now proposed by the 
appropriate committees under the differ¬ 
ent heads of the Constitution shall have 
been acted on! 

SCHEDULE. 

1st. That no inconvenience may arise 
from the alterations and amendments 
made in the constitution of this State, 
and in order to carry the same into com¬ 
plete operation aud effect, it is hereby 
declared and ordained, 

2d. That all laws of this state in force- 
at the time of making the said alterations 
and amendments and not inconsistent 
therewith, and ail rights, actions,, prose¬ 
cutions, claims and contracts, as well of' 
individuals as of bodies corporate, shall 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 53 


continue as if the said alterations and 
amendments had not been made. 

3d. The Governor, Secretary of State, 
Judges and all other officers, both civil 
and military, shall continue in the exer¬ 
cise of their duties of their respective 
departments until superseded, and their 
successors duly inducted into office pur¬ 
suant to the provisions contained in the 
foregoing alterations and amendments.. 

(Signed) M. G. PENN, Chairman.- 
T. CARRIERE, 

R. TAYLOR, 

M. BOURG, 

R. CADE, 

J. B. DERBES. 

August 21st, 1844. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge on-behalf'of 
the minority for the adjournment on the 
24th inst., informed the house that he 
would on to-morrow or next day offer a 
protest against the said adjournment to 
be entered on the Joufnal of this Con¬ 
vention. 

On motion the Convention adjourned 
fill to-morrow at 10 o’clock A. M. 


Thursday, August 22, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Revd. My. Hagerman opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Couvillon one of the committee, appoint- 
de on the executive department, made the fol¬ 
lowing seperate report, viz: 

The undersigned, one of the members of the 
committee to whom was referred the Execu¬ 
tive Department, begs leave to make the fol¬ 
lowing separate report: 

The majority of said committee have report¬ 
ed in favor of the adoption of the 9th and 10th 
sections of the 2d article of the constitution. 
The undersigned not concurring in said opinion 
respectfully proposes to substitute in lieu of 
said sections the following, viz: 

Sect. 9. All judges, sheriffs and ; all other 
officers whose offices are established by this 
constitution shall be elected by tbe people. 

Sect. 10. In cases of vacancy the governor 
on being informed thereof shall issue his pro¬ 
clamation directing an election to be held to 
fill the same. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 
[Signed]' PIERRE COUVILLON. 

Mr. Ledoux, one of the minority of the com¬ 
mittee appointed on the Executive Department, 
made the following leport, viz: 


third article of the constitution. 

Report.— -As one of the minority of the com¬ 
mittee to which was referred the third article 
of the constitution (the Executive Department) 
to report what amendments and alterations 
were necessary and proper therein. I respect¬ 
fully submit the following report. 

Sect. 1 The executive power of the State 
shall be vested in a governor. 

Sect. 2 The governor shall be elected by 
the qualified electors of the Stale, at the same 
time and place where they shall respectively 
vote for representatives and senators. The re¬ 
turns of every election shall be sealed un, and 
transmitted to the Secretary of State who, shall 
deliver them to the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, who shall open and publish 
them in presence of both Houses of the Gene¬ 
ral Assembly, the person having the highest 
number of votes shall be Governor; but if two 
or more , shall be equal and highest in votes, 
one of them shall be chosen governor by the 
joint voto of the members of the General As¬ 
sembly. Contested elections for Governor shall 
be determined by both Houses of the Legisla¬ 
ture, in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sect 3. The governor shall hold his office 
during four years, from and afier the second 
Monday of the first session of the General As¬ 
sembly next ensuing his election and until a 
successor shall be elected and qualified. 

Sect. 4. No member of Congress, or person 
holding any office under the United States, or 
minister of any religious society shall be eligi¬ 
ble to the office of governor. 

Sec. 5. The Governor shall at stated times 
receive for his services a compensation which 
shall neither be increased nor diminished du¬ 
ring the term for which lie shall have been 
elected. 

Seo. 6. He shall be commander-in-chief of 
the army and navy of this State and of the mi¬ 
litia thereof, except when they shall be called 
into the service of the U. States; but he shall 
not command personally in the field, unless he 
should be advised so todo by a resolution of the 
General Assembly. 

Sec. 7. He shall nominate and appoint, with, 
the advice and consent of the Senate, the judges 
of the supreme court, the district judges and 
all officers whose offices are created by this 
constitntion, and whose appointments are not 
herein otherwise provided for: Provided, how¬ 
ever, that the Legislature shall have a right to 
prescribe the mode of appointment of all other 
offices to be established by law. 

Sec. 8. Vacancies that may happen in offi¬ 
ces the appointment of which is vested in the 
Governor and Senate or in the Legislature,, 
shall be filled by the Governor during the re¬ 
cess of the Legislature bv granting comm is— 
14 









Journal of the Convention of Louisiaha. 


sions which shall expire at the end of the next 
session. 

Sec. 9. He shall have power to remit fines 
and forfeitures, grant reprieves and pardons, 
except in cases of impeachment. In cases of 
treason he shall have power to grant reprieves 
until the end of the next session of the General 
Assembly, in which the power of pardoning shall 
be vested. 

Sec. 10. He may on extraordinary occasions 
convene the General Assembly, at the seat of 
Government, or at a different place if that 
should have become dangerous from an enemy 
or from contagious disorders; and in case of 
disagreement between the two Houses with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may ad¬ 
journ them to such time as he may think pro 
per, not beyond the time of the next biennial 
•session. 

Sec. 11. He may require information in 
writing from all the officers of the State, upon 
any subject relating to the duties of their re¬ 
spective offices. 

Sec. 12. A Lieutenant Governor shall be 
chosen at every election for Governor in the 
-same manner, continue in office for the same 
time and possess the same qualifications. In 
■voting for Governor and Lieutenant Governor 
the electors shall distinguish whom they vote 
for Governor,and whom they vote as Lieutenant 
Governor. 

Sec. 13. In case of impeachment of the 
Governor, his removal from office, death, refus¬ 
al to qualify, resignation or absence from the 
State, the Lieutenant Governor shall exercise 
all the powers and authority appertaining to 
the office of Governor until another be duly 
qualified, or the Governor absent or impeached 
shall return or be acquitted. 

Sec. 14. The Lieutenant Governor shall by 
virtue of his office be President of the Senate, 
and when the Senate are equally divided he 
shall have a casting vote. 

Sec. 15. When the Lieutenant Governor 
shall not attend as president or shall act as 
Governor the Senate shall choose one of their 
own members as President for that occasion, 
and if during the vacancy of the office of Gov¬ 
ernor the Lieutenant Governor shall be im¬ 
peached, removed from office, refuse to qualify, 
resign, die, or be absent from the State, the 
President of the Senate pro tem, shall in like 
manner administer the Government, until he 
shall be superseded by a Governor or Lieuten¬ 
ant Governor. 

Sec. 16. The Lieutenant Governor while 
he acts as President of the Senate shall receive 
for his services the same compensation of a 
Senator; and during the time that he adminis¬ 
ters the Government as Governor shall receive 
the same compensation which the Governor 
'would have received and been entitled to, had , 


he been employed in the duties of his office. 

Sec. 17. The President pro tempore of the 
Senate, during the time he administers the 
Government, shall receive the same compensa¬ 
tion which the Governor would have received 
had he been employed in the duties of his of¬ 
fice. 

Sec. 18. A Secretary of State shall be ap¬ 
pointed and commissioned during the term for 
which the Governor shall have been elected ; 
he shall keep a fair register and attest all the 
official acts and proceedings of the Governor, 
and shall when required lay the same and all 
papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto 
before either House of the General Assembly, 
and shall perform such other duties as may be 
enjoined him by law. 

Sec. 19. Every bill which shall have passed 
both Houses shall be presented to the Govern¬ 
or; if he approves he shall sign it, if not he 
shall return it with his objections to the House 
in which it shall have originated, w T ho shall en¬ 
ter the objections at large upon their journal 
and proceed to reconsider it. If after such re¬ 
consideration, two-thirds of all the members 
elected to that House shall agree to pass the 
bill, it shall be sent with the objections to the 
other House, by which it shall likewise be re¬ 
considered, and if approved by two-thirds of all 
the members elected to that House it shall be 
a law ; but in such cases the votes of both 
Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the members voting for and 
against the bill shall be entered on the journal 
of each House respectively. If any bill shall 
not be returned by the Governor within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, it shall be a law in like 
manner as if he had signed it, unless the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly by their adjournment prevent its 
return, in which case it shall be a law, unless 
sent back within three days after their next 
meeting. 

Sec. 20. Every resolution to which the con¬ 
currence of both Houses may be necessary, 
except resolutions for the purpose of obtaining 
the joint action of both blouses, and on ques¬ 
tions of adjournment, shall be presented to the 
Governor, and before it shall take effect be ap¬ 
proved by him, or being disapproved, shall be 
repassed by both Houses according to the rules 
and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 21. There shall be appointed by the 
Governor, with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, an Auditor of the State, whose duty 
it shall be to examine and approve all accounts 
before they are paid by the Treasurer. He shall 
assist the Legislature in examining the ac¬ 
counts of the Treasurer, and perform all other 
duties which may be required of him by law. 

Sec. 22. There shall be elected in each pa¬ 
rish, by the qualified voters thereof, a parish 










Journal of the Convention 'of Louisiana , 


fluge, a sheriff, coroner, surveyor, clerk of 
district court, and as many notaries public and 
justiees of the peaca as may be necessary, 
who shall continue in office -years. 

Sec. 23. When vacancies shall occur in any 
of said offices by death, resignation or other¬ 
wise, the president of the police jury shall is¬ 
sue a writ of election, countersigned by the 
secretary, directing that an election be held 

within-- months after such occurrence, 

to fill the same, 

Sec. 24. The free white men of this State 
shall be armed and disciplined for its defence; 
but those who belong to religious societies 
whose tenets forbid them to carry arms, shall 
not be compelled to do so, but shall pay an 
equivalent for personal services. 

Sec. 25. The militia of this State shall be 
organized in such manner as may be hereafter 
' deemed expedient by the Legislature. 

Sec. 26. All commissions shall be in the 
name and by the authority of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, and sealed with the State seal, and 
signed by the Governor and Secretary of State. 
(Signed) ZENON LEDOUX, Jr. 

Mr Read, on behalf of a minority of the 
committee appointed on the Judiciary, submit¬ 
ted the following report: 

Sec. 1. The Judiciary power of the State 
shall be vested in one supreme court, in dis¬ 
trict courts, and in such inferior courts as may 
be established by law. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of 
three judges, any two of whom shall form a 
quorum. 

Sec. 3. The Legislature shall divide the 
State into three districts, numbering them, and 
the qualified voters of each district shall elect 
one of said judges for the term of six years. 

Sec. 4. The supreme court shall have juris¬ 
diction of errors of law in all civil and probate 
cases, where the amount in controversy before 
it exceeds three hundred dollars, and in all 
'criminal cases when the accused is sentenced 
to a greater punishment than an imprisonment, 
or to the payment of a snm of money exceed¬ 
ing three hundred dollars. The Legislature 
■ may give to the supreme court appellate juris¬ 
diction as to matters of fact in such cases as 
they may deem expedient. 

Sec. 5. The supreme court shall be held at 
four different places in the State, to be fixed 
by the Legislature, for the purpose of trying 
and deciding- appeals. 

Sec. 6. The office of one of said judges shall 
be vacated in two years, of one in four years, 
and of one in six years, so that at the expira¬ 
tion of every two years one of said judges 
shall be elected as aforesaid. At the first 
election the person who shall be elected from 
ihe first district shall serve for the term of two 
years; the person elected from the second 


district shah serve for the term of four years ; 
and the person electors from the third district 
shall serve for the term of sis* years. 

Sec. 7. The district courts of this State 
shall be presided by one judge from each dis¬ 
trict, chosen by the qualified electors thereof, 
and shall hold his office for the term of four- 
years. 

Sec. S. The State shall be divided into con¬ 
venient districts, never less than eighteen nor 
more than twenty-four, avoiding the seperation 
of any parish. 

Sec. 9. District courts shall have original 
jurisdiction over all civil and probate matters, 
where the amount in dispute exceeds one hun¬ 
dred dollars, and in all criminal matters arising 
within their respective limits. They shall 
moreover have appellate jurisdiction over all 
cases originating with justices of the peace or 
other inferior tribunals when the matter in dis¬ 
pute exceeds twenty-five dollars. 

Sec. 10. A suitable number of magistrates 
shall be chosen in every parish by the qualified 
electors thereof, for the term of two years, 
who shall have jurisdiction of all cases when 
the amount in controversy, or penalty to be in¬ 
flicted does not exceed one hundred dollars ; 
and shall perform such other duties as may be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 11. There shall be elected by the 
qualified electors of the State at large, an At¬ 
torney General who shall hold his office during 
the term for which the Governor is elected, and 
until his successor is qualified ; he shall keep 
his office at the seat of government he shall 
have the inspection of all courts of justice 
throughout the State, and report upon their 
conditions to the Legislature at least once in 
two years ; he shall by virtue of his office be 
a justice of the peace for the whole State, with 
criminal jurisdiction only. He shall not appear 
as counsel in other cases than those in which 
the State is interested, except those cases only 
wherein absent heirs or creditors or other ab¬ 
sent persons, insane persons or minors not re¬ 
presented, shall be interested, in all which 
cases arising at the seat of government; he 
shall appear, and elsewhere should the Gover¬ 
nor require it, or the Attorney General be of 
opinion that the interest of the State demand 
his services. It shall be his duty to give his 
opinion and advice in writing or otherwise,upon 
all questions of law, when required by the Go¬ 
vernor or any civil officer of the State, and ho 
shall perform all other duties enjoined on him 
by law. 

Sec. 12. There shall be elected a State 
Attorney for each parish by the qualified elec¬ 
tors thereof, who shall hold his office for the 
term of two years. The .State Attorneys shall 
prosecute all offenders against the laws in then- 
respective parishes, and perform within the 








56 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana 


same the duties prescribed to the Attorney 
Genera], so far as they are applicable, but they 
are net prohibited from general practice, so far 
as the same shall not conflict with the public 
duties of said State Attorneys. 

Sec. 13. A clerk'shall be elected by the 
qualified electors of each parish for the term 
of two years, whose duties shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Sec. 14. The Governor shall with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, fill all vacancies 
which may occur among- the Supreme and In¬ 
ferior Judges, Attorney general and State At¬ 
torneys, for the time remaining unexpired be¬ 
fore another regular election is to take place: 
Provided , said unexpired time do not exceed 
•one year. 

Sec. 15. For reasonable and stated cause, 
which shall not be sufficient ground for im¬ 
peachment, the Governor shall remove any of 
the said Judges, the Attorney General and the 
State Attorneys, on the seperate address of 
each house of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 16. The Legislature shall provide an 
adequate compensation for the judges and all 
other public officers, which shall not be di¬ 
minished during the term for which they are 
elected. 

Sec. 17. Clerks, Justices of the Peace and 
Inferior Judges, as well as all other parish of¬ 
ficers, shall be liable, by information or indict¬ 
ment, to be removed for misdemeanor in office 
or neglect of duty. 

Sec. 18. The Supreme Court shall appoint 
its own clerk, reporter and crier, and may re¬ 
move them at pleasure. 

Sec. 19. The business of the District Courts 
shall be done as much as possible by motions 
in open court, which with the pleadingg, pro¬ 
ceedings, orders and decisions, shall be entered 
upon the minutes and refered to by an index. 
The whole shall be subject to the inspection 
of all persons. 

Sec. 20. The Legislature shall provide by 
law, courts for the trial of all cases in which 
the ordinary administration of justice is impe¬ 
ded by legal exceptions to the competency of 
the constitutional judges, and may also direct 
such number of the Justices of the Peace to 
sit as Associate Judges on the trial of such 
criminal cases as may be deemed expedient, 
and shall provide for such courts and justices 
a reasonable compensation, while actually in 
session. 

We adopt the following sections embraced 
in the report of the majority : sections 5, 6, 9 
10, 11 and 12. 

(Signed) ISAAC T. PRESTON, ' 
J. FENWICK BRENT, 

A. READ, 


I join in the above report, but believe the ■ 
same principles can be engrafted on the Parish 
Court system, which I prefer. 

(Signed) ISAAC T. PRESTON. 

Mr. Trist, one of the members of the com¬ 
mittee appointed on the Judiciary, made the 
following seperate report: 

The undersigned begs leave to state that he 
dissents from the majority report in some points, 
the most important of which relates to the 
mode of appointment of judicial functionaries. 

He is not, however, prepared at this time, to 
give his assent to the plan for re-organizing 
the Judiciary proposed in the minority report; 
and as the plan submitted in both reports em¬ 
brace radical changes in the present system, 
he wishes to stand unpledged to either until a 
further examination. 

(Signed) PL B. TRIST. 

Mr. Soule, one of the committee appointed • 
on the Judiciary, made the following report: 

The undersigned begs leave to state that he 
dissent in many respects from both the major-* 
ity and the minority of the members compos- 
ino- the above committee, and that lie will be 
ready in due time to lay before this Convention 
his own views in relation to the Judiciary. 

(Signed) P. SOULE, 

One of the committee on the Judiciary. - 

Mr. Winchester on behalf of the minority 
of the committee to whom was referred the 
second article of the Constitution submitted 
the following report. 

The undersigned, forming a minority of 
the committee to whom was referred the se¬ 
cond article of the Constitution, being unable 
to coincide in opinion with the majority, in re¬ 
lation to many of the amendments proposed 
by them, beg leave to present to the consider- • s 
ation of the Convention the two following sec¬ 
tions in lieu of the 6th and 8th sections of the 
majority report: 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal and 
uniform in this state, and shall be apportioned 
among the several parishes included within 
the same, according to their representative 
numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
to the whole number of free persons, exclud¬ 
ing Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other 
persons; the actual enumeration shall be made 
within two years, and every subsequent term 
of ten years, in such manner as the Legisla 
ture shall by law direct. The house of Rep¬ 
resentatives shall consist of not less than sixty 
members nor more than eighty members, the 
first apportionment under this constitution shall 
be made at the first session of the General 
Assembly that will convene under this Consti¬ 
tution, and until such apportionment is made,- 
the representation in the house of representa- 
1 fives shall remain as now established by law. 






57 


Journal of the £Convention of Louisiana. 


fc>Ec. 8. Ill all elections ior members for 
the general assembly, every free white male 
citizen of the United States who hath attained 
to the age of twenty one years, and who shell 
have resided, previous to offering his vote, 
three years within the state, and the last two 
thereof in the parish in which he offers to 
vote, shall have the right of voting, Provided, 
that any one who is a house keeper, or the 
head of a family living in the State, shall be 
dispensed with one year of the foregoing term 
ol residence in the State, and that any one 
who is the owner ol a slave, or who has paid 
oris liable to pay, according to the last tax 
list a state tax ot five dollars, or who is the 
owner and possessor of real estate within this 
state of the value of — according to the 
last tax list, shall be dispensed with two years 
of the foregoing term of residence within the 
state. Electors shall in all cases except trea¬ 
son, felony, breach or surity of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during the ! r attendance 
at, going to, or returning from elections. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 
(Signed) BEN. WINCHESTER, 

A. BQUDOUSQUIE. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption offered the follow¬ 
ing Resolution which was read : 

Resolved , That when this Convention shall 
adjourn on Saturday the 24th inst., to meet on 
the second Tuesday of January next, at 12 
o’clock M., it shall adjourn to meet in the city 
of New Orleans. 

Mr. Splane moved that the above resolution 
be laid on the table indefinately, and Mr. Trist 
called for the yeas and nays. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, McCalop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Felliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill and Wederstrandt voted in the affirma¬ 
tive.—29 yeas. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bondous- 
quie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carrierc, Ce- 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Couvillon, Culbertson, Derbes, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, 
Lebauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard. Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Porche, Prescott of St. 
Laudry, Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Rose- 
lius, St. Amant, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff; Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative.—45 nays, consequently the 
motion was lost. Mr Ratliff moved that the 
resolution be made the order of the day for to¬ 
morrow, and the same was lost. Mr. Beatty 
moved for the previous question, and called for 
lire 3 r eas and nays. 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudou- 
squic, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legerjdre, Mazureau, Prud¬ 
homme, Roman, Ptoselius, St. Amant, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voor 
hies, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester vo 
ted in the affirmative.—37 yeas. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade 
Chambliss, Couvillon, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCalop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Splane, Taylor of St. Laudry, Trist, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt, Winder and the Pres¬ 
ident voted in the negative,---37 nays. The 
votes being equal the motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner moved for the adoption of the 
resolution and called for the yeas and nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Ce¬ 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Couvillon Culbertson, Derbes, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux. Legendre, Leonard, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Laudry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative,—44 yeas. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McCalop, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Roug , 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Tnylor of St. Landry, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative,—31 nays. 
The motion was adopted. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following resolu¬ 
tion : 

Resolved , That the President and Secretary 
be authorized and requested to adopt such 
measures as maybe required for obtaining Ik? 
use of the hall of the House of Represent •- 
fives for the meeting of this Convention in 
January next, and in default thereof some 
other suitable and convenient hall. 

Mr. Kenner offered to amend by substitu¬ 
ting a committee of three for the President and 
Secretary, the amendment was accepted and 
the resolution was adopted, and Messrs. Mo- 
rigny, Roselius and Leonard were appointed 
by the President on said committee. 

Mr. Read, on behalf of the minority against 
the adjournment of the Convention, offered 
the following protest which was read : 

15 









05 


journiu uj int ot mvmnon oj ijuuunana. 


We, the undersigned delegates of the State 
Convention, dissenting as we do, from the 
opinion expressed in this body cn the 20th in¬ 
stant, upon the adjournment, beg leave to en¬ 
ter our solemn protest. 

Ruled down by the strong arm of a majori¬ 
ty, we have no other method of shielding our¬ 
selves from the keen censure which must in¬ 
evitably fall with irresistable weight upon the 
actors in this novel and extraordinary proceed¬ 
ing, than to explain our position and proclaim 
our exemption from all just blame. Clothed 
with the highest trust known in civil govern¬ 
ment, we feel it our imperative duty to publish 
the causes which impede or render abortive 
our labors; and it would be akin to crime, 
were we to remain silent at this crisis, fraught 
with so many important consequences. 

The people have a clear and acknowledged 
right to scrutenize the acts of their represen¬ 
tatives, and to inquire into the motives which 
have produced certain results. It is their pro¬ 
vince to approve or disapprove, in such manner 
as they may deem proper, the conduct of their 
agents in the discharge of pubic duties. It is 
their prerogative to demand of all functiona¬ 
ries, a full, clear, frank and honest account of 
their stewardship, and the reasons which may 
have impelled them in their conclusions. 

The great body politic of Louisiaha has been 
tompest tossed for years, in consequence of 
ffie many defects in the organic law which we 
have come to reframe and amend. Technic¬ 
alities, and forms, and ceremonies, smothered 
the public voice, until it -hurt forth in the fury 
of its might, bearing down all successful op¬ 
position. The representatives of the people 
were oblieed to obey—they did obey—they 
called the Convention, designated a time with¬ 
in the limits prescribed by the Constitution, 
named a place for assembling, and appropriated 
a large amount of money to carry into effect 
the meaning and intent of the people. 

The Convention, in obedience to law, as¬ 
sembled at the town of Jackson, on the first 
Monday of August, and proceeded to deliber¬ 
ate. Officers were chosen, committees ap¬ 
pointed, to whom were referred the different 
branches of the Constitution, and evervthino- 
was conducted with an apparent desire to ef¬ 
fect an auspicious change as speedily as pos¬ 
sible. The citizens of the town provided eve¬ 
ry comfort and luxury calculated to conduce 
to the health and pleasure of delegates and 
spectators. All was bright and cheering as in 
the morning of time; party spirit recoiled to 
its bed; the passions of men were soothed, 
from the happy reflection that a glorious era 
had commenced in Louisiana ; the demon of 
discord aroused not from his lair, but peace 
prevailed universally and without interruption; 
and all congratulated themselves that a beau¬ 


tiful and lasting structure, fashioned in wi^ 
dom and conciliation, would be the result ot 
this deliberative body. 

But the evil day came, and with it a post¬ 
ponement of the labors enjoined upon the Con¬ 
vention. The consequences are, unnecessary 
expenditures of large sums of money, a waste 
of time, delay of public justice, and disap¬ 
pointment to an indulgent people, together 
with innumerable inconveniences to may of 
the delegates, whose services will shortly be 
required °in other spheres of pulic importance 
and of private trusts. 

No sufficient cause, as we conceive, was 
assigned for this unwarrantable assumption 
of power, and none could be. The health of 
the town and neighborhood was never better 
than it has been up to this moment; the dele¬ 
gates enjoy a remarkable share of the blessing 
of heaven, as evidenced by the presence of' 
seventy-six out of seventy-seven, in the hall, 
on the day of this memorable, and unfortunate 
determination to adjourn ; and yet the fiat has 
gone forth regardless of reason and the de¬ 
mands of the people. No epidemic darts from 
the noonday beams or hangs upon the curtains 
of night, to alarm the stranger or discompose 
the citizen—no foreign enemy is upon our bor¬ 
ders to lay waste our fields and eat our sub¬ 
stance—and no internal commotion, political 
or religious, disturbs the peaceful quietude 
of the country in which we are called to de¬ 
liberate; bht notwithstanding this favorable 
state of things for the accomplishment of the 
grandest object ever assigned to man, the 
millenial day of Louisiana is still left distant 
in the womb of time. 

We, therefore, in the name of our constit¬ 
uents, solemnly protest against the adjourn¬ 
ment of the Convention, as unnecessary, 
unwarrantable and unjustifiable. 

We protest against it, because the people 
believed, and had a right to ezpect, that our 
labors would be continued until the final revis¬ 
ion of the constitution. 

We protest against it, because no good can 
arise therefrom, inasmuch as the crude matter 
reported by committees to the Convention, 
would rather mislead than enlighten those 
with whom we are soon to mingle, in reference 
to any final action which may be had. 

We protest against it, because we cannot 
pleahd igdorance or want of information, on a 
subject which has claimed our attention for a 
series of pears. 

We protest against it, because our moral 
obligations are paramount and sacredly bind¬ 
ing. 

We protest against it, because it is our 
duty, at all hazards and at all sacrifices, to 
fulfil the functions with which we have been 
invested. 



We finally and solemnly protest against it, 
because it establishes a ruinous precedent, 
which will effect this and future generations, 
by teaching prodigal habits, a disregard for the 
responsibility of important trusts, indulgence 
in the discharge of public duties, violation of 
implied faith, discontent among the people, and 
disobedience to the Constitution and laws of 


the land. 

Amasa R^ead, 

Jas. McCaloe, 

W. B. Scott, 
Thomar W. Chinn, 
G. Leonard, 

B. B. Brazeale, 

G. Mayo, 

W. B. Prescott, 
Thos. B. Scott, 

L. Saunders, 

W. M. Prijrcott, 
Thos. C. Porter, 
Robt. C. IIynson, 
A. Waddill, 
Cyyus Ratliff, 


(signed) 

A. II. McRae, 

J. Fenwick Brent, 

A. R. Splane, 

R. Cade, 

Tiios. W. Scott, 

.T. B. Wederstrandt, 
Jacob Humble, 

Geo. W. Peets, 

R. J. Chambliss, 
Alex. M. Dunn, 

S. W. Downs, 

D. O’Bryan, 

B. Makicny, 

Jos. Walker, 


Mr. Ratliff moved that the protest be spread 
on the minutes of This Convention, and his 
motion was adopted. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following resolution 
which was read. 

Resolved, That members of this Convention 
are not entitled to any additional mileage in 
consequence of the adjournment from the 24th 
inst, to the second Tuesday of January next. 

Mr. McRae offered the following substitute 
to the above, which was read : 

Resolved, That those who have voted for 
the adjournment be authorized to leave their 
mileage in the Treasury, and that those who 
have voted against it be permitted to do as 
they please. 

Mr. Grymes moved the rejection of both the 
original and substitute, and Mr. Kenner moved 
that the question be divided, and Mr. Downs 
called for the yeas and nays on the substitute. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou- 
villon, Culbertson, Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Kenner, King, Labouve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, Mazurean, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Roman, Ro- 
selins, St. Araant, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted for the rejection, 
56 yeas. 

Messrs. Brent, Chambliss, Downs, Dunn, 
Hynson, McCalop, McRae, Penn, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 


Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Waddill and Waderstrandt, 
voted in the negative;—19 nays, consequently 
the substitute was rejected, 
ner withdrew his resolution. 


Then Mr. Ken- 


ORDERS OF THE DAY. 

The resolution introduced yesterday by Mr. 
Mayo was read. 

Resolved, That the printer to this Conven¬ 
tion be instructed by the Secretary not to in¬ 
clude in the book to contain a Journal of the 
proceedings to be printed by him, any of the 
speeches or proceedings of the Convention 
relative to contested elections, nor relative to 
motions made and withdrawn by the mover, 
nor any of the speeches made relative to ad¬ 
journment. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend the same by in¬ 
serting in lieu of the word proceedings the 
word debates and the said motion was carried. 

Mr. Downs moved the rejection of the above 
resolution, which motion prevailed. 

The following resolution introduced by Mr. 
Cenas was read ; 

Resolved, That the Secretary be authorized 
to appoint an assistent at his own expense, 
whose duty it shall be to supply his place after 
the adjournment on Saturday next whenever 
he is prevented from attending thereto from 
sickness or any other sufficient cause, provi¬ 
ded however, that the Secretary shall at all 
times be responsible for the acts of his said 
assistent. 

Mr. Benjamin offered to amend it by insert¬ 
ing after the words Saturday next the words 
and until the business left unfinished shall be 
completed. The amendment was accepted 
and the resolution adopted. 

Tne following resolution offered by Mr. 
Lewis was read and adopted ; 

Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the 
Secretary to superintend the printing of the 
reports of the committees, and other docu¬ 
ments ordered to be printed during the ad¬ 
journment of the Convention, and that he do 
transmit ton copies of said reports to each of 
the members of this Convention at their re¬ 
spective residences as soon as possible. 

Mr. Sellers offered the following resolution, 
and the same was read. 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to 

consist of-members of this Convention to 

superintend the preparing and printing, the bus¬ 
iness transacted by this Convention, and not 
yet printed, and that said committee have pow¬ 
er to discearge such persons as may have com¬ 
pleted the duties assigned. 

Mr. Downs moved the rejection of the above 
resolution. This motion was adopted. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolution 
which was read. 

Resolved , That if within a reasonable time 








after the adjournment the printer shall not 
have printed the reports of committees and 
other documents ordered to be printed that the 
Secretary shall be authorized to have the print¬ 
ing done elsewhere; and that the Secretary be 
required to urge upon the printer the printing 
as soon as possible; and immediately after the 
printing of a report or document that the Sec¬ 
retary shall forthwith transmit the same to the 
delegates. 

Mr. Ratliff moved to strike out the a reason- 
sonable time and insert the words within thirty 
days. The amendment was accepted and the 
resolution as amended was adopted. 

The foregoing resolutions offered by Mr. 
Brent were read. 

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Con¬ 
vention, by which it will be governed in con¬ 
tested elections, that the receiving and return 
of votes by a single Judge or Inspector of 
Elections is illegal, and that the votes thus re¬ 
turned will not be counted ; and further, that 
the votes of persons holding certificates of nat¬ 
uralization, in duo form of law, issued from 
the City Court of Lafayette, or any court of 
record—provided the said persons have the 
other qualifications required by the Constitu¬ 
tion—shall be received, unless the challeng¬ 
ing party shall prove to the satisfaction of the 
Inspectors of Elections that the certificates 
are false or fraudulent, and that the person 
offering to vote is not entitled to said certifii- 
cate of naturalization: and it is further the 
opinion of the Convention, that when the In¬ 
spectors of Election are equally divided in 
opinion as to the reception of a vote, it cannot 
be received; but if the person offering to vote 
protests, stating in the protest the names of 
the candidates for whom he votes, the vote 
will be counted iu case of a contested election, 
should the Convention be of opinion that he 
was a qualified voter : And it is further the 
opinion of the Convention, that in case of an 
equal division of opinion of the Inspectors as 
to a vote offered, the polls should not be closed, 
but the Inspectors shall proceed to receive of 
all qualified electors until the hour fixed by law 
for closing the polls. 

Mr. Preston rose to address the Convention, 
but as it was late he moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, A. M. 
The motion to adjourn was adopted. 


Friday, August 23d, 1844. 

The Convention met puisvant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev’d. Mr. Mercer opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Wikoff moved that leave of ab¬ 
sence be granted Mr. Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry; the same was granted. 


Mr. Kenner moved that leave of ab¬ 
sence be granted Mr. Trisht; the same 
was granted- 

Mr. Soule moved that leave of absence 
be granted M.essrs. Penn and Carriere; 
the same was grained. 

Mr. Conrad of Jefferson, a member of 
the committee appointed on the Legisla¬ 
tive Department, submitted the following 
seperate report, and the same was read: 

The undersigned being unable to coin¬ 
cide in opinion on some points with either 
the majority or minority of the committee 
to whom was referred the 2d article of 
the Constitution, begs leave to present to 
the consideration of the Convention the 
following separate report, and to recom¬ 
mend the adoption of the following sec¬ 
tions in lieu of the 3d., 6th., 8th. and 
12th. sections of the Constitution. 

Sec’t. 3d. Represrntatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday of May every 
two years, and the general assembly shall 
convene on the 3d. Monday in January 
every second year, unless a different day 
be appointed by law, and its sessions 
shall be held at the seat of Government. 

Sec’t. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this state, and shall be 
apportioned among the parishes included 
within the same, and shall be foreve* reg- 
ulated and ascertained by the number of 
qualified electors in said parishes. The 
enumeration of electors shall be made 
within two years, and every subsequent 
ten years, in such manner as the Legisla¬ 
ture shall by law direct. The house of- 
Representatives shall consist of not less 
than sixty members, nor more than eigh¬ 
ty members. The first apportionment 
under this Constitution shall be made at 
the first session of the General Assembly 
that will convene under the new Consti¬ 
tution, and until such apportionment is 
made, the representation in the House of 
Representatives shall remain as now es¬ 
tablished by law. 

Sec’t. 8. In all elections for members 
to to the General Assembly, every free' 
white male citizen of the United States 
who hath attained the age of 21 years, 
and who at the time of offering his vote 
shall have resided three consecutive years 
in the State, and the last one in the Par¬ 
ish in which he offeres to vote, shall have 





Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana . (51 


the first Monday of September every two years, 
and the General Assembly shall convene on 


llie right of voting. Provided, that any 
one who is a house keeper or the head 
of a family living in the State, shall be 
-dispensed with one year of the foregoing 
term of residence within the state — and 
that any one who is the owner of a slave 
or who has paid, or is liable to pay accor¬ 
ding to the last tax list, a state tax of five 
dollars, and who is the owner and posses¬ 
sor of real estate within the state of the 
value of three hundred dollars according 
to the laet tax list, shall be dispensed with 
two years of the foregoing term of resi¬ 
dence within the state ,-—And provided 
further , that the right of suffrage shall 
not be exercised by any person of insane 
mind, or who shall have been convicted 
of an infamous offence. Electors shall 
in all cases except treason, felony and 
breach or surety of the peace be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, going to, or returning from elections. 

Sect. 12. No person shall he a Senator 
who at the time of his election is not a 
citizen of the United States, and who 
hath not attained the age of twenty-seven 
years, resided in this State four years 
next preceding his election, and one year 
n the district for which he may be cho¬ 
sen, and unless he holds within the same 
a landed property of the value of fifteen 
hundred dollars agreeably to the tax list, 
all of which is respectfully submitted. 

(Signed) F. B. CONRAD. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, a member of the 
commmitttee appointed on the Legislative de¬ 
partment submitted the following report which 
was read. 

The undersigned a member of the commit¬ 
tee to worn was submitted the second article 
of the Constitution concerning the Legislative 
department, respectfully submits the following 
report; 

The dissents from the report made by a ma¬ 
jority of the committee. 

1st. In so far as it directs that the stated or 
regular sessions of the general assembly shall 
be holden only once in two years. 

2nd. In relation to the apportionment made 
.of the representation in the house of Repre¬ 
sentatives, and with respect to the rule by 
which future apportionment are to be made 
and ^T3d. on the subject of the qualifications 
of voters. 

In place of the paragraph of the article in 
which the provisions on these subjects are 
contained, he proposes the following, viz; 

Soa. 3d. Representatives shall be chosen on 


the third Monday of January in every year un¬ 
less a different day be appointed by law, and 
their sessions shall be holden at the scat of 
Government. 

Sec. 6th. Representation in the House of 
Representatives, shall be equal and uniform, 
in this state, and shall be apportioned among 
the different parishes and election districts ac¬ 
cording to the number of qualified voters 
therein. In the year one thousand eight hun¬ 
dred and forty-five, and every tenth year there¬ 
after an enumeration of the electors shall be 
made in such manner as shall be directed by 
law 7 , and the number of Representatives in 
the several years next after these enumera¬ 
tions shall be apportioned and affixed 'so as not 
to be less than eightv nor more than one bun- 
dred until an enumeration shall be made, the 
Parish of Plaquemines shall be entitled to 
choose one. The Parish of St. Bernard, with 
that portion of the Parish of Orteans, lying on 
the west bank of the Mississippi River, one. 
The first munisipality of the City of New Or¬ 
leans, six. The second municipality of the 
city of New-Orleans, three. The third munici¬ 
pality of New-Orleans, four. The parish of 
Jefferson, two. The parish of St. Charles, one. 
The parish of St.-John the Baptist, one. The 
parish of St. James, two. The parish of Asccn- 
cion, one. The parish of Assumption, three. 
The parish of Lafourche Interior, three. The 
parish of Terrebonne, one. The parish of Iber¬ 
ville, two. The parish of West BatonRouge, one. 
The parish of East Baton Rouge, two. The 
parish of Point Coupee, one H The parish of 
West Feliciana, two. The parish of East Fe¬ 
liciana, three. The parish of Washington, one. 
The parish of St. Tammany, two. The parish 
of St. Helena, one. The parish of Livingston, 
one. The parish of Concordia, one. The par¬ 
ish of Madison, one. The parish of Carroll, 
one. The parish of Tensas, one. The parish 
of parish of St. Mary, two. The parish of St. 
Martin, two. The parish of St. Landry, four. 
The parish of Lafayette, two, The parish of 
Vermillion, one. The parish of Calcassien, 
one. The parish of Avoyelles, two. The par¬ 
ish of Rapides, three. The parish of Natchi¬ 
toches, three. The parish of Sabine, one. The 
parish of Caddo, one. The parish of DeSoto, 
one. The parish of Caldwell, one. The par¬ 
ish of Franklin, one. The parish of More¬ 
house, one. The parish of Claiborne, one. The 
parish of Bossier, one. The parish of Cata- 
poula, one. The parish of Washita, one, and 
the parish of Union, one. 

Sec. 8 . —In ail slections by the people every 
white male citizen of the United States, who 
at the time being has attained to the age ot 
twentv-one vears, and resided in the State 
16 






02 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


three consecutive years next preceding the' 
election, and the last year thereof in the par¬ 
ish or election district in which he offers to 
vote, shall enjoy the right of an election. 
Electors shall in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surity of the peace, be priv¬ 
ileged from arrest during their attendance at, 
going to, or returning from elections. 

The undersigned further proposes the fol¬ 
lowing additional paragraph, and recommend 
that it be made a part of the article referred to, 
and that it do stand as Sec. 7. 

At each apportionment of the representa¬ 
tion in the House of Representatives, that 
part of the parish of Orleans, lying on the 
east bank of the Mississippi river, shall be di¬ 
vided into election districts in such a manner 
that no one district shall elicit a greater num¬ 
ber of representatives than the largest coun¬ 
try parish. (Signed) MILES TAYLOR. 

Mr. Garrett submitted a memorial from Mr. 
Caleb G. Forshey on Education, and moved 
that same may be referred to the committee 
on education. This motion was adopted. 

Mr. Brent offered the following resolution, 
which was read; 

Resolved f That Messrs. J. C. Plauche and 
Emile LaSere be allowed the per diem and mil¬ 
eage of members to this Convention, and that 
warrants upon the Treasury be issued for the 
same accordingly. 

Mr. Mayo called for the yeas and nays on 
the adoption of said resolution. 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Cade, Cenas, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou- 
villon, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Garcia, 
Humble, Kenner, King, Ledonx, Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, O’Bryan, 
Peets,. Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Weders- 
trandt and YVikoff voted in the affirmative.'—35 
Yeas. 

Messrs. Beatty, Brumfield, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss,, Chinn, Claiborne, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
fludspeth, Hynson, Labouve, Me Galop, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Prudhomme, Ratliff! Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amant, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the negative.—30 Nays. 
The resolution was consequently adopted. 

The president submitted to the convention 
the following letter from the Treasurer of the 
State and the same was read. 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 

New Orleans, Aug. 19th, 1844. 
Hon. Joseph Walker, President of the State 
Convention, Jackson, La. 

Sir—In reply to the interrogatives propound¬ 
ed to the State Treasurer in the letter of the 
Secretary of the Convention under date of the 


14th August, 1844, I have the honor to trans*- 
mit to you herewith two statements, letters 
A & B. 

Statement A conveys the information cailed 
for in the first query, so far as it relates to the 
taxation of 1843 in each parish. It is not in 
the power of the treasury department to fur¬ 
nish the amount of taxation of 1844, as the 
assessment Rolls of 1844 have with but two 
or three exceptions not yet come to hand; the 
assessors have hardly closed their labors by 
this time. 

Statement B is in answer to the second que 
ry. The taxes assessed in each incorporated 
town and city except New Orleans, cannot be 
stated as they are not kept separate on the 
rolls of the country parishes. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

(Signed)* WM. DeBUYS, State Treasurer. 

ORDER OF TIIE DAY. 

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Con¬ 
vention, by which it will be governed in con¬ 
tested elections, that the receiving and return 
of votes by a single Judge or Inspector of 
Elections is illegal, and that the votes thus re¬ 
turned will not be counted; and, further, that 
the votes of persons holding certificates of 
naturalization, in due form of law, issued from 
the City Court of Lafayette, or any court of 
record—provided the said persons have the 
other qualifications required by the constitu¬ 
tion—shall be received, unless-the challenging 
party shall prove to the satisfaction of the In¬ 
spectors of Elections that the ccrtifficates are 
false or fraudulent, and that the person offer¬ 
ing to vote is not entitled to said certifficate- 
of naturalization: and it is further the opinion 
of the Convention, that when the Inspectors 
of Election are equally divided in opinion as 
to the reception of a vote, it cannot be receiv¬ 
ed ; but if the person offering too vote protests,, 
stating in the protest the names of the candi¬ 
dates for whom he votes, the vote will be 1 
counted in case of a contested election, should 
the Convention be of opinion that he was a. 
qualified voter. And it is fnrther the opinions 
of the Convention, that in case of an eqal di¬ 
vision of opinion of the Inspectors as to a vote- 
offered, the polls shonld not be closed, but the* 
Inspectors shall proceed to receixe the votes 
of all qualified electors until the hour fixed by 
law for closing the polls. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following anseral- 
ment which was read; 

The amendment consisted in striking out all 
the resolution from and after the word Resolv¬ 
ed, That the members of this Convention are 
of opinion that they can and ought to exer¬ 
cise no other powers than those which hav e 
beeit delegated to them for the purpose of re 







Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. <J3 


adopting, amending or changing the Constitu¬ 
tion of this state. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to lay on the table the 
original resolution and amendment, and called 
for the yeas and nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Briant; 
Brumfield, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, Kenner, Labouve 
Legendre, McCalop, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative.—29 Yeas. 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Couvillion, Downs, 
Garret, Grymes, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Ledoux, Leonard, Lewis, McRae, Marig- 
ny, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in 
the negative.—40 Nays, consequently the said 
motion was lost, and after some further debate 
Mr. Grymes moved that the original resolution 
and amendments be laid on the table, and said 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Preston moved that the Convention ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow at 9 o’clock A. M., said 
motion was adopted, and the Convention ad¬ 
journed till to-morrow at 9 o’clock A. M. 


Saturday, August 24th, 1844. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. The Rev’d. Dr. Lacy opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Yielding to the request contained in a reso¬ 
lution unanimously adopted in the course of 
this day’s sitting, the Rev’. Doct’r. Lacey fur¬ 
nished the Secretary with the following copy 
of his opening prayer. 

Thou awful and eternal God, before thee 
should all flesh come, and in thy presence 
should every living spirit bow. Thou holdest 
the destiny of the Universe in thine own hands, 
and will eventually manifest thy supremacy 
over all the creatures thou hast made. Thou 
speakest, and it is done; thou commandest, 
and it stands fast forever. 

It is onr consolation to know that thou rul- 
est, and over-rulest all things. Amid the ap¬ 
parent chaos of the Universe, thou sittest 
upon the circle of the Heaven, and directest 
all events, and all circumstances to the ad¬ 
vancement of thine own glory, and the good 
of the chosen ones. Thou stillest the raging 
of the waves, and to the angry tempest, thou 
sayest be still, and there is a great calm. 
Even amid the sorrows, afflictions 'and disap¬ 
pointments of which we are apparently the 
victims, it affords us comfort to know that we 


are in thy bauds. We, therefore, resign our¬ 
selves, and all that we have, and are, and have 
}o be, absolutely and entirely to thy will, for 
time and for eternity. 

Soon, in the order of thy providence, we 
shall separate, and peradventure, in some in¬ 
stances, shall separate forever. Never till the 
morning of the resurrection; till summoned 
by the trump of God to the Judgment seat, 
shall we all again appear in the same assem¬ 
bly. We go to our homes ; but we are press¬ 
ing to the grave. Soon shall we be numbered 
with the dead, and our destiny forever fixed. 
The thoughts, the emmotions and the wishes 
which now exeite and agitate our bosoms will 
become extinct, and the unchanging realities 
of another world will absorb our minds. Then 
shall we retrospect with gladness or remorse, 
our transactions in this assembly and every 
where else. 

Grant Heavenly Father, that these solmn 
and affecting truths may deeply impress our 
hearts. May we separate with feelings of 
brotherly kindness, penitently imploring for¬ 
giveness for all our inadvertancies and follies 
since we have been together. Recollecting 
our infirmities, may w T e forgive one another, 
even as we hope to be forgiven. Possess us, 
we beseech thee, with that heavenly virtue 
which healeth all things, believeth all things, 
endureth ail things. 

Be with thy servants, we pray thee, during 
the recess of their official labors. Give them 
intense solicitation to know their duty, and 
firmness to perform it. Instead of relying 
upon untried theories, or principles of doubt¬ 
ful solidity, may they take experience and 
observation for their guide, correcting what 
they know to be evil, and supptying wdiat they 
know to be defective. Keep them from the 
dark and bewildering sea of speculation, and 
restrain every step that is not planted on solid 
ground. Instead of relying on their own wis¬ 
dom, or depending on their own strength, or 
venturing upon untried expedients, may they 
consult the experience of other states, the 
history of their own government, the actual 
and ascertained wants of their own people. 
Rich with the reflections of the coming recess 
may they re-assemble at the appointed time, 
and in the spirit of candor, of reasonable com¬ 
promise, of patriotism, and of prayer, resume 
and consumate the duty incumbent on them, 
giving to the people of this stare a Constitu¬ 
tion that will be energetic, but not despotic ; 
liberal, but not licentious ; equal, but not in¬ 
discriminate; benign, but not unjust: A Con¬ 
stitution securing life, liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness, to individuals, in strict consis¬ 
tency with the public good. 

All which we ask in the name, and through 








64 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the mediation of Jesus Choist our blessed 
Lord and Saviour. 

The peace of God which passeth all under¬ 
standing, keep your hearts and minds in the 
knowledge and love of God, and of his Son 
Jesus Christ our Lord; and the blessing of 
God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the 
Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with 
you always. Amen. 

Mr. Voorhies moved that leave of absence 
be granted Messrs. Mayo and 4 Garrett, the 
same was granted. Mr. Downs moved that 
leave of absence be granted Messrs. Humble 
and Chambliss, the same was granted. 

Mr. Lewis offered the following 1 resolution 
which was read ; 

Resolved, That the President request the 
Rev’d. Dr. Lacey to furnish a copy of the 
prayer offered up by him this morning at the 
opening of the Convention, to be spread upon 
the Journal. 

Mr. Claiborne offered the following substi¬ 
tute to the above resolution, which was read 
and adopted; 

Resolved , That the thanks of this Conven¬ 
tion be, and they are hereby tendered to the 
Rev’d. Messrs. Lacey, Mercer, Hagaman, 
Smith and Chamberlain, for having so kindly 
and so fervantly officiated in their holy minis¬ 
try to call forth each morning the care and the 
protection of Providence upon the delibera¬ 
tions of this body. 

Resolved further, That the Rev’d. Dr. Lacey 
be hereby respectfully requested to furnish to 
the Secretary a copy of his farewell prayer 
deliveren this morning, in order that the same 
may be spread upon the Records of this Con¬ 
vention. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following resolu¬ 
tion which was read and adopted. 

Resolved, That the committee on contingent 
expenses be authorized to advance to the Sec¬ 
retary of this Convention the amount of his 
per diem for thirty days for services to be ren¬ 
dered by him after the adjournment on this 
day. 

Resolved , That the same committee be fur¬ 
ther authorized to advance the per diem for 
fifteen days to Messrs. Kerr and Foulhouse, 
reporters Louvet and Nadaud, Clerk and 
Translator for services to be rendered by them 
after the adjournment on this day,—and it is 
further resolved, that the same committee be 
authorized to advance the per diem for five 
days to Mr. Exnicios for services to be render¬ 
ed by him after the adjournment on this day. 

Mr. Winder offered the following resolution 
which was read and unanimously adopted. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Conven¬ 
tion are due and hereby tendered to the Hon¬ 
orable Joseph Walker for the able, dignified 
and impartial manner with which he has dis¬ 


charged the high and responsible duties de¬ 
volving on him as president of this body. 

Mr. Winder offered the following resolution 
which was read and unanimously adopted. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Convcn- 
tton are tendered to Horatio Davis, Esq’r. for 
ihe correct and faithful discharge of the impor¬ 
tant and delicate duties of Secretary to this 
Convention. 

Mr. Kink offered the following resolution 
which was reae; 

Resolved , That the Treasurer of the State 
of Louisiana be authorized to pay J. A. Kelly 
the editor of the Louisiana Reporter upon his 
own warrant five hundred dollars on account 
of his services rendered, or to be rendered as 
printer for this Convention. 

Mr. Downs ofFeied the following proviso, 
which was read; 

Provided this be received by the printer in 
full discharge for all services rendered or to be 
rendered until the reassembling of this Con¬ 
vention. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following amend¬ 
ment to the above proviso, which was read’; 

Although there be no evidence before the 
Convention that the amount to which he is 
entitled is greater or smaller than the sum 
afforesaid. Mr. Slows accepted of ihe amend¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Benjamin moved the previous question, 
and called for the yeasijand nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Briant, Brumfield, Barton, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Guiou, Hudspeth, Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis^McCal- 
op, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, Roman, Ros- 
elius, St, Amant, Saunders, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, Winchester, 
and Winder, voted in the affirmative.—34 Yeas. 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Cou- 
villion, Culbertson, Downs, Hynson McRae, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Batton Rough, Scott of Feliciana, 
Soule, Splane, Voorhies, waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and wikoff voted in the nega¬ 
tive.—25 Nays, consequently the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. King moved tho adoption of the origin¬ 
al, resolution, and Mr. Downs called for the 
yeas and nays ; 

Messrs. Aubert Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
cia, Guion. Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, McCalop, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Rutliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amant, Saunders, Lcott of Madison, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wederstranpt and Winder voted 
in the affirmative.—38 Yeas. 




(35 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 


Messrs. Brent, Cade, Couvillon, Culbertson, 
Downs, Hynson, Leonard, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston,•Prudhomnie, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Souje 
Splane, Voorhies, Waddle, Wadsworth, Wi- 
koff and Winchester voted in the negative.— 
24 Nays, consequently the resolution was 
adopted. 

Mr. Ratliff chairman of the committee on 
contingent expenses for the Convention sub¬ 
mitted the amount of contingent expenses, and 
offered the following resolution, which was 
read. 

Resolved , That the Treasurer of the State 
of Louisiana be authorised to pay the forego¬ 
ing accounts, amounting to the sum of three 
hundred and eighty dollars and forty-one cents, 
upon presentation to him of the accompanying 
vouchers, to the persons therein named of their 
authorised agents. 

Mr. Splane seconded by Mr. Leonard moved 
the rejection of the items in said account, rela¬ 
ting to the post master, and said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Guion then moved the adoption of the 
original resolution and his motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption the 
Convention adjourned pursuant to the reso¬ 
lutions adopted on the 20th and 22d inst. 

New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 1845, 

Pursuant to adjournment the Convention of 
the State of Louisina, elected for the purpose of 
amending,altering and changing the Constituton 
of the State of Louisiana, met at the St. Louis 
Hall, in the city of New Orleans. 

The President, the Hon. Jos. E. Walker, 
.called the Convention to order. 

The Roll being called, it appeared that 
Messrs. Brumfield, Boudousquie, Briant, Der- 
bes, Hynson, Labauve, M’Rae, O’Bryan, Por¬ 
ter, Sonle, Scott of Madison, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wikoff, 
were absent. 

The President submitted to the Convention 
■that a Resolution had been adopted at Jackson, 
on the 8th of August, 1844 last past, authoris¬ 
ing the President to invite the Clergymen in 
and about Jackson, to open in turn the sittings 
of the Convention, and inquire whether it was 
the will of the Convention that the Resolution 
should apply to New Orleans. 

Whereupon, Mr. Lewis offered the following 
Resolution, which was unanimously adopted : 

“ Resolved , That the President be authorised 
“ to invite each of the Divines in and about 
■“ the city of New Orleans, to daily open in 
“ turn the deliberations of this Convention.” 

Mr. Marigny, Chairman of the Committee, 
appointed by the Convention, sitting at Jack- 
son, for the purpose of making the necessary 
arrangements for the meeting of the Convert* 
17 


tion in the city of New Orleans, submitted the 
following Report: 

Your committee first applied to the Hon. the 
House of Representatives for the purpose of 
procuring the Hall of their sittings, for the use 
of the Convention, the House having refused 
to grant it, your committee then were under 
the necessity of seeking some other suitable 
place and to provide the necessary furniture to 
enable the Convention to resume their labors. 
The accounts for the furniture will be present¬ 
ed to you in a few days, and will amount {o 
about one thousand dollars. 

Your committee applied to Mrs. Hawley, 
the lessee of the St. Louis ball room, with 
whom they made the following arragements, 
subject to your approval.—Mrs. Hawley fur¬ 
nishes the ball room and five rooms, destined 
for the use of the committees and clerks of the 
Convention. The principal room to be used 
by the Convention during its sittings, unless 
after the adjournment of the Legislature the 
Convention should prefer the Hall of the House 
of Representatives. 

Your Committee have agreed to allow Mrs. 
Hawley fifteen dollars per day for the use of 
the said hall and rooms. 

A our Committee are under the impression 
that this room, in every respect is suitable for 
the meetings of the Convention. They would 
observe that Mrs. Hawley reserves to herself, 
the privilege of retaining the Room on the 
17th, 24th and 31st of January, and on the 4th 
of February, for the purpose of giving Society 
Balls, and will require it on those days at 4 
o’clock, P. M. 

Your committee deem it likewise proper to 
state, for your information, that the city Coun¬ 
cil of the first Municipality design to place 
chains across the corners of Royal, Chartres 
and St. Louis streets, during the sittings of the 
Convention, so that their deliberations may 
not be disturbed by the running of carriages 
and other vehicles. 

(Signed) B. MARIGNY, Chairman. 

C. ROSE LIUS, 

G. LEONARD. 

Mr. Winchester offered the following Reso¬ 
lution : 

“ Resolved , That this Report be referred to 
“ a special committee of five members, with 
“ instruction to take this Report into considera- 
“ tion and renort thereon, and with the further 
“ authority to inquire whether another and 
“ more appropriate room for the sittings of the 
“ Convention, cannot be obtained in the city.” 

Mr. Kenner moved, that the whole be laid 
on the table, subject to the call of the Con¬ 
vention on Thursday next—which motion was 
lost. 

The question was then put on the adoption 
of the resolution, to refer the report of the 
Committee to a special committee. 






GO Journal of the Convention oj Louisiana. 


The question was lost. 

The question was then put on the adoption 
of the Report; which was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Garcia, leave of absence 
was granted Mr. Soule, who was absent on'ac- 
count of illness. 

Mr. Leonard moved, that seats be prepared 
for the Hon. the members of the Legislature, 
and for other persons invited by the President, 
to attend the deliberations of the Convention— 
said motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved, that the newly elected 
members of New Orleans take their seats, and 
their credentials be referred to the Committee 
on elections—and the same was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad, of Orleans, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing resolution: 

“ Resolved , That the Secretary be directed 
“ to cause the various reports and counter re- 
“ ports, made by the Committees of the Con- 
“ vention, to be printed in such form as will 
“ admit of amendmentsbeing written thereon.” 

Mr. Downs offered the following amendment, 
to the above resolution, and the same was 
adopted. 

•‘And that the Secretary be directed to cause 
“ the same to beprinted without delay, by the 
“ Printer of the Convention, and in default of 
“ his ability to do so immediately, the Secreta- 
“ ry shall employ another printer to do the 
,l same.” 

On motion of Mr. Grymes, it was ordered 
that the Convention proceed to the considera¬ 
tion of the first article of the Constitution, as 
reported by the Committee appointed on that 
article. 

The Convention formed itself into a Commit¬ 
tee of the Whole, on the first article of the 
Constitution. 

Mr. Leonard in the Chair. 

The first section of the first article of the 
Constitution, as reported by the Committee, 
was read; after some time, the Committee rose, 
and Mr. Leonard, the chairman, reported pro¬ 
gress. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned uffiil 
to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, A. M. 

Wednesday, January 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Scott opened the proceedings 
by prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, Chairman of the committee on 
contingent expenses, offered the following reso- 
ution: 

“ Resolved , That the committee on contin- 
“ gent expenses be instructed to inquire into 
“ and ascertain the amount of mileage due to 
“ each member of this Board for his travelling 
“to, and returning home, from the Convention 
“ m New Orleans, and direct the payment of 
w the same”. 


Mr. Beatty offered to the above resolution* 
the following amendment: 

“And that the committee report to the Con¬ 
vention.” 

Mr. Guion moved that the whole be laid on 
the table, and the yeas and nays were called 
for, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Benjamin, Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Ge¬ 
nas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Couvillon, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, 
Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, 
King, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Penn, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Trist, Voorhies* Waddle and Winder, 
voted in the affirmative.—44 yeas. 

And Messrs. Chinn, Dunn, Leonard, M’Cal- 
lop, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens and Wed- 
erstrandt, voted in the negative.—11 nays. 

Consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Winder, asked leave of absence for Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption, on account of severe 
domestic afflictions in his family; the same 
was granted. 

Mr. Downs moved that a committee of five 
be appointed to revise and draft rules for the 
government of the Convention, and the same 
was adopted. 

The President appointed on said committee, 
Messrs. Roman, Eustis, Mayo, Lewis and 
Read. 

The President announced to the Convention 
the resignation of Mr. L. Exnicios.as door-keep¬ 
er to the Convention. 

Mr. Grymes moved that the President be au¬ 
thorised to appoint the door-keeper, which mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved for the reconsideration of 
the report of the committee appointed by the 
Convention, at Jackson, for the purpose of ma¬ 
king the necessary arrangements for the meet¬ 
ing of the Convention at New Orleans, adopted 
yesterday, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs then moved that the report of 
the said committee be laid on the table, subject 
to the call fo the Convention, which motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention pro¬ 
ceed to the election of a door-keeper, and the 
same was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff nominated Mr. Eugene Remon- 
det. 

Mr. Culbertson nominated Mr. G. W, 
Reinecke. 

Mr. Penn nominated Mr. J. K. Miles. 

Mr. Boudousquie nominated Mr. Faure. 

Mr. Garcia nominated Mr. Jos. Chevalier, 

The Convention then proceeded to the elec¬ 
tion of door keeper, sixty-three members prc 
sent. 






67 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


On motion of Mr. Wederstrandt to appoint 
tellers, the President appointed Messrs. Dunn 
nnd Culbertson. 


On counting the votes it appeared that 


Mr. 

E. Remondet obtained 

34 

votes. 

44 

G. W. Reinecke 

it 

G 

u 

44 

J. K. Miles 

It 

4 

Cl 

44 

Faure 

Cl 

8 

cc 

S* 

Hickey 

cc 

1 

<1 

44 

Blank 

« 

2 

cc 




63 

votes. 


Mr. Remondet having obtained thirty-four 
votes, the President proclaimed him duly elect¬ 
ed door-keeper to the Convention. 

Mr. Mayo moved that the reporters of the 
news papers of the city of New Orleans be 
admitted in the Hall of the Convention du¬ 
ring its sittings, which motion was adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The Convention then proceeded to the order 
of the day, viz: The report of the committee 
on the first article of the Constitution. 

CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA. 

ARTICLE 1st. 

“Sec. 1 . That the po wers of the government 
“ of the State of Louisiana, shall be divided 
“ into three distinct departments, and each of 
“ them to be confined to a separate body of 
“ magistracy, to wit: those which are Legisla- 
“ tive to one, those which are Executive to 
“ another, and those which are Judiciary to 
“ another.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out after the 
words distinct departments, the word] and. 1 

Mr. Preston moved that the first article of 
the Constitution of 1812, be substituted for the 
one reported by the committee. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
that the sections composing said article be di¬ 
vided, and said motion prevailed. 

Sec. 1st. The powers of the government of 
the State of Louisiana, shall be divided into 
three distinct departments, arfd each of them 
be confined to a separate body of magistracy, 
viz: Those which are Legislative to one, those 
which are Executive to another, and those 
which are Judiciary to another. 

Mr. Preston moved for the adoption of the 
first, section of article first, of the Constitution 
of 1812. Which motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis moved to adopt the second sec¬ 
tion of article first, as reported by the commit¬ 
tee, viz: 

“Sec. 2. No person or collection of persons 
“ holding office under those departments, shall 
“ exercise any power properly belonging to 
“ either of the others; except in instances here- 
“ after expressly directed or permitted.” 

Mr. Guion offered to the same the following 
amendment: “No person oi persons being one 
“ of these departments, or holding office under 


“ one of them, shall exercise any powers prop- 
“ orly,” and Mr. Downs called for the yeas and 
nays, which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Auburt, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, Burton, Chinn, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, King, Legendre, Lewis, Mazu- 
reau, Porche, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—34 yeas. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car¬ 
rier, Cenas, Claiborne, Couvillon, Downs, 
Eustis, Humble, Ledoux, Leonard, McCalop, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, W’addle and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative, 25 nays, 
consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Downs moved to insert the word herein¬ 
after instead of hereafter , and the same was 
adopted. 

Mr. Preston moved that the committee ap¬ 
pointed to reverse and draft Rules for the Con¬ 
vention, be requested to report to-morrow morn- 
ing. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned to 
to-morrow at II o’clock, A. M. 


Thursday, January 1G, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Ckapp opened the proceedings 
by prayer. 

Mr. Roman of the committee to whom had 
been referred the revising and drafting rules 
for the government of the Convention, reported 
that the committee recommended to the Con¬ 
vention, the adoption of the forly-two first rules 
that had been temporarily adopted by the Con¬ 
vention at Jackson, and submitted to the consid¬ 
eration of the Convention some additional rules. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, it was ordered 
that the forty-two rules temporarily adopted, 
be read, and that the Convention act on each of 
them separately. 

The rules which were as follows, were read: 

Touching the duty of the President. 

1. He shall take the Chair every day at the 
hour to which the Convention shall have ad¬ 
journed on the preceding day; shall immediate¬ 
ly call the members to order; and on the ap¬ 
pearance of a quorum, shall cause the Journal 
of the preceding day to be read. 

2. He shall preserve order and decorum; 
may speak to points of order in preference to 
the members, rising from his seat for the pur¬ 
pose; and shall decide questions of order, sub¬ 
ject to an appeal to the Convention, by any two 
members, on which appeal no member shall 
speak more than once .iimess oy leave of the 
Convention. 








68 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


3. He shall rise to put a question, but may 
state it sitting-. 

4. Questions shall be distinctly put in this 
form, to wit: “As many of you as are of opin¬ 
ion that,” (as the question may be,) ‘say aye;’ 
and after the affirmative voice is expressed,— 
“as many of you as are of a contrary opinion, 
say no. ’ If the President doubts, or if a divi¬ 
sion be called for, the Convention shall divide; 
those in the affirmative of the question shall 
rise from their seats, and afterwards those in 
the negative. The President shall then rise 
and state the division of the Convention. 

5. All committees shall be appointed by the 
President, unless otherwise specially directed 
by the Convention; in which case they shall be 
appointed by a viva voce vote of the Conven¬ 
tion, and if upon such vote the number requi¬ 
red shall not be elected by a majority of the 
vote given, the Convention shall proceed to 
vote until a majority be obtained. 

The President shall have the right to ex- 
••'•me >ud correct the Journal before it is read. 
He shall have a general direction of the Hall. 
He shall have the right tq name any member 
to perform the duties of the Chair, but such 
substitution shall not extend beyond an ad¬ 
journment. 

7. In all cases of ballot or viva voce vote, 
by the Convention, the President shall vote; in 
other cases he shall not vote, unless the Con¬ 
vention be equally divided, or unless his vote, 
if given to the minority, will make a division 
equal; and in case of such equal division, the 
question shall be lost. 

8. In case of any disturbance or disorderly 
conduct in the gallery or lobby, the President, 
(or Chairman of the Committee of the Whole 
Convention,) shall have power to order the 
same to be cleared. 

9. No person shall be admitted within the bar 
but the members of the Convention, officers of 
the General or State Government, and such 
other persons as the President may think proper 
to invite to a seat in the Convention. 

Of Decorum and Debate. 

10. When any member is about to speak in 
debate, or deliver any matter to the Conven¬ 
tion, he shall rise from his seat, and respectful¬ 
ly address himself to the President. 

11. If any member in speaking or otherwise, 
transgress the rules of the Convention, the 
President shall, or any member may, call to 
order; in which case the member so called to 
order shall immediately sit down, unless per¬ 
mitted to explain; and the Convention shall, if 
appealed to, decide on the case, but without 
debate; if there be no appeal, the decision of 
the Chair shall be submitted to; if the decision 
be in favor of the member called to order, he 
shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, and 
the case require it, he shall be liable to the 
censure of the Convention. 


12. When two or more members happen id 
rise at once, the President shall name the per¬ 
son who is first to speak. 

13. No member shall speak more than twice 
on the same question, without leave of the Con¬ 
vention, nor more than once, until every mem¬ 
ber choosing to speak, shall have spoken. 

14. Whilst the President is putting any ques¬ 
tion, or addressing the Convention, none shall 
walk out of or across the hall; nor, in such case, 
or when a member is speaking, shall enter¬ 
tain private discourse, nor whilst a member is 
speaking, shall pass between him and the 
Chair. 

15. No member shall vote on any question, 
in the event of wdiich he is immediately and 
particularly interested; or in any other case, 
when he is not present when the question was 
put, without the leave of the Convention. 

16. Upon a division and count of the Con¬ 
vention on any question, no member without 
the bar shall be counted. 

17. Every member who shall be in the Con¬ 
vention when a question is put, shall give his 
vote, unless the Convention, for special reasons, 
shall excuse him. 

18. When a motion is made and seconded, 
it shall be stated by the President, or, being in 
writing, it shall be handed to the Chair, and 
read aloud by the Secretary, before debated. 

19. Every motion shall be reduced to wri¬ 
ting, if the President or any member desire it: 

20. After a motion is stated by the Presi¬ 
dent, or read by the Secretary, it shall be 
deemed to be in possession of the Convention, 
but may be withdrawn at any time before a de¬ 
cision or amendment. 

21. When a question is under debate, no 
motion shall be received, but to adjourn; to lay 
on the table; for the previous question; to post¬ 
pone to a day certain; to commit or amend; to 
postpone indefinitely; which several motions 
shall have precedence in the order in which 
they are arranged; and no motion to postpone 
to a day certain, to commit or postpone indefi¬ 
nitely, being decided, shall be again allowed 
on the same day, and at the same stage of the 
proposition. 

Rule 22. “A motion to adjourn shall always 
“ be in order; that and the motion to lay on the 
“ table, shall be decided without dabate.” 

Mr. Downs moved to amend it by striking 
out the words “that and the motion to lay on the 
tabled His motion was carried by the casting 
vote of the President. 

The Rule as amended, viz: “A motion to ad- 
“ journ shall always be in order, and shall be 
decided without debate,’’was adopted. 

23. All questions except those enumerated 
in rule 21st, shall be put in the order they are 
moved, except that in filling up blanks, the 
largest sum and the largest time shall be first 
put. 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 09 


24. The previous question shall be in this 
form: “Shall the main question be now put]” 
tt shall only be admitted when demanded by a 
majority of the members present, and until it 
is decided, shall preclude all amendments and 
further debate of the main question, and must 
be decided without debate. 

25. When the Convention adjourns, every 
member shall keep his seat, until the President 
passes the last seat on his way out of the Con¬ 
vention. 

26. Any member may call for the division of 
the question, when the sense will admit of it. 

27. A motion for commitment, till it is deci¬ 
ded shall preclude all amendment of the main 
question. 

28. Motions and Reports may be committed 
at the pleasure of the Convention. 

No new motion or proposition on a subject, 
different from that under consideration, shall 
be admitted under color of amendment, or as a 
Substitute for the motion or proposition under 
debate. 

30- When a motion has once been made, or 
carried in the affirmative or negative, it shall 
be in order for any member of the majority to 
move for the reconsideration thereof; Provi¬ 
ded, it is made on the same day or the next 
sitting day, before the order of the day is taken 
up. Provided further, that this rule do riot apply 
to the provision of the Constitution which 
may have been adopted and which shall always 
be subject to reconsideration after two day’s 
notice being given thereof. 

31. When the reading of a paper is called 
for, and the same is objected to by fny mem¬ 
ber, it shall be determined by a vote of the 
Convention. 

32. The unfinished business in which the 
Convention was engaged, at the time of the last 
adjournment, shall have the preference in the 
orders of the day; and no motion, or any other 
business, shall be received without special 
leave of the Convention, until the former is 
disposed of. 

33. In all other cases of ballot a majority 
of the votes given shall be necessary to an 
election, and where there shall not be such a 
majority on the first ballot* the ballot shall be 
repeated until a maojrity be obtained. 

34. In all cases when others than members 
of the Convention may be eligible, there shall 
be a previous nomination. 

35. Any five members, includiing the Presi¬ 
dent, shall be authorised to compel the attend¬ 
ance of absent members. 

36. Upon calls of the Convention, or in ta¬ 
king the yeas and nays in any question, the 
names of the members shall be called alpha¬ 
betically. 

37. Any member may excuse himself from 
serving on any committee at the time of his 


appointment, if he is then a member of other 
committees. 

Rule 38. “No member shall absent himself 
“ from the service of the Convention, unless 
“ he have leave, or be sick and unable to at- 
“ tend.” 

Mr. Leonard moved to amend this rule by 
striking out the words he have leave ; the amend¬ 
ment was lost and the rule adopted. 

38. No member shall absent himself from 
the service of the Convention, unless he have 
leave, or be sick arid unable to attend. 

39. In order to insure the punctual attend¬ 
ance of the members, a call shall take place afc 
the commencement of every day’s sitting, by 
the Secretary, who shall note the absentees ; 
but shall remove the notes from the names of 
such members as appear in the course of that 
day’s sittings; the names of those who do not at¬ 
tend, shall be entered on the Journal, and they 
shall receive no salary for that day, unless 
excused by the Convention. 

40. A Sergeant-at-arms shall be appointed 
to hold his office during the pleasure of the 
Convention, whose duty it shall be to attend 
the Convention during its sittings ; to execute 
the commands of the Convention from time to 
time, together with all such process issued by 
authority thereof, as shall be directed to him 
by the President. 

41. There shall be a committee of elections, 
whose duty it shall be to examine rind report 
upon the certificate of election or Other cre¬ 
dentials of the members returned to serve in 
this Convention, and to take into consideration 
all such petitions and other matters touching 
elections and returns, as shall or may be pre¬ 
sented or come in question, and be referred to 
them by the Convention, and on any other mat¬ 
ter in relation to the manner, times and places 
of holding elections. 

42. No Committee shall sit during the sitting 
of the Convention, without special leave. 

43; No standing rule or order of the Conven¬ 
tion shall be received without one day’s notice 
being given of the motion thereof. 

44. The Secretary of the Convention shall 
take an oath for the true and faithful discharge 
of the duties of his office, to the best of his 
knowledge and abilities ; and shall be deemed 
to continue in office until another be appointed. 
He shall enter on the Journals all motions on 
which a vote of the Convention shall have been 
taken. 

45. The Secretary shall not suffer any re¬ 
cords or papers to be taken from the table, or 
out of his custody, by any member, or other 
person. 

46. No standing rule or order of the Conven¬ 
tion shall in any case be suspended or dispens¬ 
ed with, without the concurrence of four-fifths 
of the members present. 





70 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Rule 50. “It shall be a standing order, that the 
“ Convention shall every day resolve itself into ; 
“ a committee of the whole, to consider the ex -1 
“ isting Constitution, and such propositions for 
u the amendment or alteration thereof, as shall 
“ be referred to or made in said committee.” 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff the said rule was 
rejected. 

Mr. Conrad moved for the reconsideration 
of the 30th rule, and his motion prevailed. 

Rule 30. “When a motion has once been 
made, or carried in the affirmative or negative, 
it shall be in order for any member of the ma¬ 
jority to move for the reconsideration thereof, 
provided it is made on the same day, or the 
next sitting day before the order of the day is 
taken up. 

On motion of Mr. Conrad, this rule was 
amended by the addition of the following pro¬ 
viso, viz: “provided further, that this rule do 
not apply to the provision of the Constitution 
which may have been adopted, and which shall 
always be subject to reconsideration, after two 
days notice being given thereof,” which motion 
was granted, and the rule adopted as amend¬ 
ed. 

On motion of Mr. RAtLiFF, the Convention 
reconsidered the 35th rule and rejected it. 

Rule 51. “In forming the Committee of the 
"Whole, the President shall leave the Chair, 
and a chairman to preside in the committee 
shall be appointed by the President;” which rule 
was rejected. 

Rule 52. “In the committee of the whole 
Convention, the ayes and nays shall not be 
called.” This rule was rejected. 

Rule 47. “Every member in addressing the 
Convention, shall confine himself strictly to 
the subject matter under debate, and the ad¬ 
dress of no member to the Convention shall 
exceed one hour, unless by special permission 
of the Convention.” 

On motion of Mr. Lewis the rule was 
amended by striking out the words “and the 
address of no member to the Convention shall 
exceed one hour, c^c.;” and the rule as amend¬ 
ed, viz: 

“Every member in addressing the Conven¬ 
tion, shall confine himself strictly to the sub¬ 
ject matter under debate;” was adopted. 

Mr. Roman's additional article, viz: 

Rule 48. “There shall be appointed a stand¬ 
ing committee of five, whose duty it shall be to 
revise, in English and French, every article of 
the Constitution, after its adoption by the Con¬ 
vention, and report the same to the Conven¬ 
tion on the next day, or as soon thereafter as is 
practicable for its second reading”—Was read 
and adopted. 

Rule 49. “In all cases to which the above 
rules will not apply, the Jefferson's Manual shall 
govern the Convention." The same was adopt¬ 
ed. 


Mr. Downs moved that the rules be printed 
in pamphlet form, in the French and English 
languages, and that one hundred copies be 
printed in each of the languages, which motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Downs moved to incorporate among the 
rules the following, viz: “The documents or¬ 
dered to be printed by the Convention and the 
debates of the Convention, in pamphlet forms, 
shall be printed on paper of the same size of 
the printed journals of this Convention, and a 
copy sheet be bound with each journal, to be 
furnished to the members of the Convention, at 
the end of the session, and it shall be the duty 
of the Printer of the Conventien, to print one 
hundred additional copies ordered to be printed 
for the above purpose.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to lay the same on the 
table subject to the call of the Convention; his 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Sellers moved, that the statistical in¬ 
formation called for by the Convention, and 
furnished by the reports of the State Treasurer, 
be printed as speedily as possible. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved that a committee 
be appointed to examine the reports, containing 
this statistical information before printing;, 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Seller's motion was then adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Article I. 

Sec. 2. “No person or persons being one of 
“ these departments or holding office under one 
“ of them, shall exercise any powers, properly 
“ belonging to either of the others ; except in 
“ the cases hereinafter expressly directed or 
“ permitted,” was read and adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved to take up the second ar¬ 
ticle of the Constitution, and that the sections, 
of the Constitution of 1812 be first read, and 
then the sections as reported by the committee. 

Article II. of the Constitution of 1812. 

Sec. 1. “The Legislative power of this 
“ State shall be vested in two distinct branch- 
“ es, the one to be styled the House of Repre- 
“ sentatives, the other the Senate, and both 
“ together the General Assembly of the State 
“ of Louisiana,” was read. 

Mr. Ratliff moved the re-adoption of this 
section of the Constitution of 1812, and his 
motion prevailed, 

Article II. as reported by the Committee. 

Sec. 1. “ The legislative power of this State 
“ shall be vested in two distinct branches, the 
“ one to be styled the House of Representa- 
“ tive9 the other the Senate, and both together 
“ the General Assembly of the State of Louis- 
“iana,” was read. 






71 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


AftTIOLlS II. OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1812. 

Sec. 2. “The members of the House of 
^ Representatives shall continue in service for 
“ the term of two years from the day of the 
44 commencement of the general election,” 
was read. 

Article II. as reported by the committee 

Sec. 2. “ The members of the House of 
“ Representatives shall continue in service for 
“ the term of two years, from the day of the 
“ closing of the general elections,” was read 
and adopted. 

Article II. of the Constitution of 1812. 

Sec. 3. “ Representatives shall be chosen 
“ on the first Monday in July, every two years, 
“ and the General Assembly shall convene on 
“ the first Monday in January in every year, 
“ unless a different day be appointed by law 
“ and their sessions shall be held at the seat 
“ of Government,” was read. 

Article II. as reported ay the Committee. 

Sec. 3.. “ Representatives shall be chosen 

on the first Monday, one day only, in Septem- 
“ ber every two years, and the General As- 
54 sembly shall convene on the third Monday in 
44 January in eveay second year, unles a differ- 
44 ent day be appointed by law, and their differ- 
44 ent sessions shall be held at the seat of 
„ Government.” 

44 The first election under this Constitution 

44 shall take place in the year ——-,” was 

read. 

Mr. Winder moved to strike out the word 
“September,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
word 44 June.” 

Mr. Sellers moved to amend the amendment 
by striking out the name of the month and 
leaving it in blank. 

While this motion was under debate, the 
Convention adjourned to to-morrow at 11 o’clock 
A. M. 


Friday, January 17, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

The President submitted the following let¬ 
ter from the Right Rev. Plane, Bishop of New 
•Orleans: 

New Orleans, January 15, 1845. 

Bishopric of New Orleans: 

Sir—I have the honor to acknowledge the 
reception of your note of this date. 

In snswer, I beg leave to state, that as soon 
as I was informed that the Con veil tjon of our 
State had assembled in the town of Jackson, I 
instructed the clergy and laity under my charge 


to offer up public prayers, that the Almighty 
might in his goodness, vouchsafe to direct the 
deliberations of the Convention, so that their 
decisions might be profitable to the people in 
whose behalf they were assembled, and that 
these prayers should be continued daily during 
the entire session of the Convention. 

In relation to the daily opening prayer, I 
wold beg leave, respectfully, to request in the 
name of my clergy, that we be dispensed from 
attending to it. Any arrangements which the 
Divines, who may have begun, will make be¬ 
tween themselves, will be agreeable to us. I 
have the honor to be very respectfully, your 
very obedient servant. 

Ant. Bp. of New Orleans. 

To the Hon. E. Joseph Walker,President of the 

State Convention of Louisiana. 

Mr. Ratliff chairman of the committee on 
contingent expenses, moved that the sum of 
$100 be allowed Mr. Kelly, printer to the Con¬ 
vention, for furnishing one hundred pamphlets, 
and $50 for printing blank warrants for the 
Convention, and the same was allowed. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolution, 
viz: 

44 Resolved , That the sergeant-at-arms, under 
the direction of the President of the Conven¬ 
tion, be directed to provide seats in tho lobby, 
for the use of such persons as may attend the 
proceedings of the Convention, and suitable 
seats and tables for the reporters of the several 
newspapers of the city.” The same was adopt¬ 
ed. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE 2d, AS REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 3. “Representatives shall be chosen on 
the first Monday, one day only, in September, 
every two years, and the General Assembly 
shall convene on the third Monday in January, 
in every second year, unless a different day be 
appointed by law, and their different sessions 
shall be held at the seat of government. 

On the adjournment, yesterday, the Conven¬ 
tion had under consideration the motion to 
strike out the word September. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to lay on 
the table, subject to call, .the motion to strike 
out. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr. Ratliff called for the yeas and nays, on 
motion to strike out, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brent, Briant, Burton,Cenas, Chambliss,Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 






72 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Lewie, Mayo, Mazureau, Pema, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, 
Saunders, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—48 yeas, 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Cade, Carriere, Couvillon, Leonard, McCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, Peets, Porche, Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Voorhies, Waddle and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—20 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Winder moved to fill the blank with the 
word June, and the yeas and nays being called 
for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, Saunders, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—28 yeas, and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Couvillon, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Humble, Leonard, McCallop,McRea, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, Prescott of Avoy- 
elle, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, Stevens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Wad¬ 
dle, Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—40 nays,consequently the motion 
was lost. 

Mr. McRea moved to fill the blank with the 
word October , and the ayes and nays being cal¬ 
led for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs, Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Couvillon, Downs, 
Humble, Leonard, McCallop, McRea, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Perm, Porche, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Voorhies and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—26 ayes, and 

Messrs. Auburt, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Burton,Cenas,Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Preston, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amant, 
Saunders, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Waddle, Wadsworth 4 
Winchester and Winder voted in the negative, 
—42 nays; the motion was lost. 


On motion of Mr. Burton, to fill up the 
blank with the word November , the ayes and 
nays being called resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, Car- 
riere, Chambless, Couvillion, Downs, Garrett, 
Humble, Leonard, McCalloo, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudham, 
Pugh, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Voorhies, Waddle, Wederstrandt and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—33 ayes, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudou¬ 
squie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amant, Splane, Trist, 
Wadsworth and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—34 nays; the motion was therefore lost. 

Mr. McRea moved that the Convention ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, A. M., and 
the ayes and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Carriere, Chambliss. Couvillion, Downs, Dunn, 
Hudspeth, Humble, King, Labauve, Leonard, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens 
and Waddle, voted for the motion, 25 ayes, 
and 

Messrs. Auburt, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudous¬ 
quie, Bourg, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Eustis, Garcier, 
Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mazureau, Penn, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amant, Saunders, Sellers, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Wads-> 
worth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted against the motion—43 nays; the same 
was lost. 

Mr. Garrett moved to fill up the blank with 
the words the fourth Monday of November. 

The President decided this motion to be out 
of order, because the blank was to be filled by 
the name of the month only, the section con¬ 
taining already the particular Monday of the 
month; and Mr. Garrett proposed to appeal 
from the decision of the Chair. 

Mr. Eustis moved to fill up the blank with 
the word July, and before putting the question, 
on motion of Mr. Chinn, the Convention ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, A. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Hynson, 
O’Bryan, Porter, Scott of Madison, Soule on 
leave, Taylor of St. Landry and Wikoff. 








JOURNAL 

OF THE 

PROCEEDINGS OE THE CONTENTION 

OF THE 

STATE OF LOUISIANA, 

Cowsf jIuPio'o^i 1 c Jtweni 1 

BEGUN AND HELD 

IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, 


On the 14/A day of January , 1845. 



PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY. 

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NEW ORLEANS: 

BESANCON, FERGUSON & CO. 

PRINTERS TO THE CONVENTION. 


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J OURNAL. 


’Tuesday, January, 14, 1845. 

Pursuant to adjournment the Convention 
ol the State of Louisiana, elected for the 
purpose of amending, altering and chang¬ 
ing the Constitution of the State of Lou- 
isina, met at the St. Louis Hall, in the city 
of New Orleans. 

The President, the Hon. J. E. Walker, 
called the Convention to order. 

The roll being called, it appeared that 
Messrs. Brumfield, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Derbes, Hynson, Labauve, M’Rae, O’Bry¬ 
an, Porter, Soule, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wikoff, were absent. 

The President submitted to the Conven¬ 
tion that a resolution had been adopted at 
Jackson, on the 8th of August, 1844, last 
past, authorising the president to invite the 
clergymen in and about Jackson, to open 
in turn the sittings of the Convention, and 
inquire whether it was the will of the Con¬ 
vention that the resolution should apply to 
New Orleans. 

Whereupon, Mr. Lewis offered the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, which was unanimously 
adopted: 

“ Resolved , That the president be au- 
“ thorized to invite each of the divines in 
“ and about the city of New Orleans, to 
“ daily open in turn the deliberations of 
“ this Convention.” 

Mr. Marigny, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee, appointed by the Convention, sitting 
at Jackson, for the purpose of making the 
necessary arrangements for the meeting of 
the Convention in the city of New Orleans, 
submitted the following report: 

Your committee first applied to the hon¬ 
orable the house of representatives for the 
purpose of procuring the hall of their sit¬ 
tings, for the use of the Convention; the 
house having refused to grant it, your 
committee were then under the necessity 
of seeking some other suitable place, and 


to provide the necessary furniture to enable 
the Convention to resume their labors. 
The account for the furniture will be pre¬ 
sented to you in a few days, and will 
amount to about one thousand dollars. 

Your committee applied to Mrs. Hawley, 
the lessee of the St. Louis ball room, with 
whom they made the following arrange¬ 
ments, subject to your approval; Mrs. 
Hawley furnishes the ball room and five 
rooms, destined for the use of the commit¬ 
tees and clerks of the Convention. The 
principal room to be used by the Convention 
during its sittings, unless after the adjourn¬ 
ment of the legislature the Convention 
should prefer the hall of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives. 

Your committee have agreed to allow 
Mrs. Hawley fifteen dollars per day for the 
use of the said hall and rooms. 

Your committee are under the impression 
that this room in every respect is suitable 
for the meetings of the Convention. They 
would observe that Mrs. Hawley reserves 
to herself the privilege of retaining the 
room on the 17th, 24th and 31st of January, 
and on the 4th of February, for the purpose 
of giving Society Balls, and will require it 
on those days at 4 o’clock, P. M. 

Your committee deem it likewise proper 
to state for your information, that the City 
Council, of the First Municipality, design to 
place chains across the corners of Royal, 
Chartres and St. Louis streets, during the 
sittings of the Convention, so-that their de¬ 
liberations may not be disturbed by the run¬ 
ning of carriages and other vehicles. 
(Signed). B. MARIGNY, Chairman. 
C. ROSELIUS, 

G. LEONARD. 

Mr. Winchester offered the following 
resolution: 

“ j Resolved, That this report be referred 
“ to a special committee of five members, 
“with instruction to take this report into 









4 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


“ consideration and report thereon, and with 
“the further authority to inquire whether 
“ another and more appropriate room for 
“ the sittings of the Convention, cannot be 
“ obtained in the city.” 

Mr. Kenner moved that the whole be 
laid on the table, subject to the call of the 
Convention on Thursday next—which mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

The question was then put on the adop¬ 
tion of the resolution, to refer the report of 
the committee to a special committee. 

The question was lost. 

The question was then put on the adop¬ 
tion of the report; which was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Garcia, leave of ab 
sence was granted Mr. Soule, who was ab¬ 
sent on account of illness. 

Mr Leonard moved that seats be prepa¬ 
red for the honorable the members of the 
legislature, and for other persons invited 
by the president, to attend the deliberations 
of the Convention—said motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the newly elected 
members of New Orleans take their seats, 
and their credentials be referred to the 
committee on elections—and the same was 
adopted. 

Mr. Conrad, of New Orleans, submitted 
the following resolution: 

“ Resolved , That the secretary be direc- 
“ ted to cause the various reports and coun- 
“ ter reports made by the committees of the 
“ Convention to be printed in such form as 
“ will admit of amendments to be printed 
“ therein.” 

Mr. Downs offered the following amend¬ 
ment to the above resolution, and the same 
was adopted: 

“ And that the Secretary be directed to 
“ cause the same to be printed without de- 
“lay, by the Printer of the Convention, and 
“indefault of his ability to do so imme- 
“ diately, the Secretary shall employ another 
“ printer to do the same.” 

On motion of Mr. Grymes, it was ordered 
that the Convention proceed to the conside¬ 
ration of the first article of the Constitution, 
as reported by the committee appointed on 
that article. 

The Convention formed itself into a com¬ 
mittee of the whole, on the first article of 
the Constitution. 

Mr. Leonard in the chair. 

The first section of the first article of 
the Constitution, as reported by the com¬ 


mittee, was read; after some time, the com¬ 
mittee rose and Mr. Leonard, the chairman, 
reported progress. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
to to-morrow at 11 o’clock, A. M. 


Wednesday, January 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Scott opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, offered the follow¬ 
ing resolution: 

“ Resolved , That the committee on con- 
“ tingent expenses be instructed to inquire 
“ into and ascertain the amount of mileage 
“ due to each member of this body for his 
“ travelling to, and returning home from 
“the Convention in New Orleans, and 
“ direct the payment of the same.” 

Mr. Beatty offered to the above reso¬ 
lution, the following amendment: 

“And that the committee report to the 
Convention.” 

Mr. Guion moved that the whole belaid 
on the table, and the yeas and nays were 
called for, and 

Messrs. Hubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brent, 
Burton, Benjamin, Brumfield, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of N. Orleans, Couvillon, Downs, 
Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Kenner, King, Ledoux , 
Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, Maza - 
reau. Peels, Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St.Landry, Prudhomme,Pugh , 
Ro?nan, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Trist, Voorhies ,. Waddill and 
Winder, voted in the affirmative ,—44 yeas. 

And Messrs. Chinn, Dunn, Leonard, 
McCallop, Preston, Ratliff, Reid, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Stephens and Wederstrandt, voted in the 
negative ,—11 nays. 

Consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Winder asked leave of absence for 
Mr. Taylor of Assumption, on account of 
severe domestic afflictions in his family; 
the same was granted. 

Mr. Downs moved that a committee of 
five be appointed to revise and draft rules 
for the government of the Convention, and 
the same was adopted. 

The president appointed on said com¬ 
mittee, Messrs. Roman, Eustis, Mayo, 
Lewis and Reid, 







Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 5 


The president announced to the Con¬ 
vention the resignation of Mr. L. Exnicois, 
as door-keeper to the Convention. 

Mr. Grymes moved that the president 
be authorised to appoint the door-keeper, 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved for the re-considera¬ 
tion of the report of the committee ap¬ 
pointed by the Convention, at Jackson, for 
the purpose of making the necessary ar¬ 
rangements for the meeting of the Conven¬ 
tion at New Orleans, adopted yesterday, 
which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs then moved that the report 
of the said committee be laid on the table, 
subject to the call of the Convention, 
which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 
proceed to the election of a door-keeper, 
and the same was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff nominated Mr. Eugene 
Remondet. 

Mr. Culbertson nominated Mr. G. W. 
Reinecke. 

Mr. Penn nominated Mr. J. K. Miles. 

Mr. BouDOusauiE nominated Mr. Faure. 

Mr. Garcia nominated Mr. Jos. Cheva¬ 
lier. 

The Convention then preceeded to the 
election of door-keeper, sixtry-three mem¬ 
bers present. 

On motion of Mr. Wederstrandt to ap¬ 
point tellers, the president appointed Messrs. 
Dunn and Culbertson. 

On counting the votes it appeared that 
Mr. E. Remondet obtained 
G. W. Reinecke, 

J. K. Miles, 

Faure, 

Hickey, 

Blank, 


a 


n 


a 


u 


a 


a 


u 


u 


a 


34 votes. 
6 
4 
8 

1 

2 


u 


u 


a 


63 votes. 

Mr. Remondet having obtained thirty- 
four votes, the president proclaimed him 
duly elected door-keeper to the Convention. 

Mr. Mayo moved that the reporters of 
the newspapers of the city of New Or¬ 
leans be admitted in the Hall of the Con¬ 
vention during its sttings, which motion was 
adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 


The Convention then proceeded to the 
order of the day, viz: The report of the 
committee on the first article of the Con¬ 
stitution. 


CONSTITUTION OF LOUISIANA. 

Article 1st. 

“ Section 1. That the powers of the 
“government of the State of Louisiana 
“shall be divided into three distinct depart¬ 
ments, and each of them to be confined to 
“a separate body of magistracy, to wit: 
“those which are Legislative to one, those 
“which are Executive to another, and those 
“which are Judiciary to another.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out after the 
words distinct departments, the word and. 

Mr. Preston moved that the first article 
of the Constitution of 1812, be substituted 
for the one reported by the committee. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
that the sections composing said article be 
divided, and said motion prevailed. 

Section 1st. The powers of the govern¬ 
ment of the State of Louisiana shall be 
divided into three distinct departments, and 
each of them be confined to a separate 
body of magistracy, viz: Those which are 
Legislative to one, those which are Execu¬ 
tive to another, and those which are Judi¬ 
ciary to another. 

Mr. Preston moved for the adoption of 
the first section of article first, of the Con¬ 
stitution of 1812. Which motipn was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Lewis moved to adopt the second 
section of article first, as reported by the 
committee, viz: 

“ Sec. 2. No person or collection of per¬ 
sons holding office under one of those de¬ 
partments shall exercise any power pro¬ 
perly belonging to either of the others; 
“except in instances hereafter expressly 
“directed or permitted.” 

Mr. Guion offered to the same the fol¬ 
lowing amendment: “No person or persons 
“being one of those departments, or hold¬ 
ing office under one of them, shall exer¬ 
cise any powers properly,” and Mr. 
Downs called for the yeas and nays, which 
resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty , Benjamin , Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg , Brumfield , Burton , Chinn , 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Cidbertson, Dunn , Garcia , Garrett , Guion , 
Hudspeth , Kenner , King , Legendre , Lewis , 
Mazur can, Porclie , Preston , Prudhomme , 
Pugh , Roman , St. Amand , Saunders , Scott. 
of Feliciana, Stephens, Trist, Voorhies , 
Winchester and Winder , voted in the af¬ 
firmative—34 yeas. 



6 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Couvillon, Downs, Eus- 
tis, Humble, Ledoux, Leonard., McCallop, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Wad- 
dill, and Wedersirandt, voted in the nega¬ 
tive—25 nays; consequently the motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Downs moved to insert the word 
hereinafter instead of hereafter, and the 
same was adopted. 

Mr. Preston moved that the committee 
appointed to revise and draft rules for the 
Convention, be requested to report to-mor¬ 
row morning. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned to 
to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, A. M. 

Thursday, January 16, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clapp opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Roman of the committee to whom 
had been referred the revising and drafting 
rules for the government of the Conven¬ 
tion, reported that the committee recom¬ 
mended to the Convention the adoption of 
the forty-two first rules that had been tem¬ 
porarily adopted by the Convention at 
Jackson, and submitted to the considera¬ 
tion of the Convention some additional 
rules. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, it was order¬ 
ed that the forty-two rules temporarily 
adopted, be read, and that the Convention 
act on each of them separately. 

The rules which were as follows, were 
read: 

Touching the duty of the President. 

1. He shall take the chair every day 
at the hour to which the Convention shall 
have adjourned on the preceding day; shall 
immediately call the members to order; and 
on the appearance of a quorum, shall cause 
the journal of the preceding day to be 
read. 

2. He shall preserve order and decorum; 
may speak to points of order in preference 
to the members, rising from his seat for 
the purpose; and shall decide questions of 
order, subject to an appeal to the Conven¬ 
tion, by any two members, on which ap¬ 
peal no member shall speak more than 
once unless by leave of the Convention. 


3. He shall rise to put a question, but 
may state it sitting. 

4. Questions shall be distinctly put in 
this form, to wit: “As many of you as 
are of opinion that,” (as the question may 
be,) ‘say aye,’ and after the affirmative voice 
is expressed,—“as many of you as are of 
a contrary opinion, say no.” If the pre¬ 
sident doubts, or if a division be called for, 
the Convention shall divide; those in the 
affirmative of the question shall rise from 
their seats, and afterwards those in the ne¬ 
gative. The president shall then rise and 
state the decision of the Convention. 

5. All committees shall be appointed by 
the president, unless otherwise specially 
directed by the Convention; in which case 
they shall be appointed by a viva voce vote 
of the Convention, and if upon such vote 
the number required shall not be elected 
by a majority of the vote given, the Con¬ 
vention shall proceed to vote until a majo¬ 
rity be obtained. 

6. The president shall have the right to 
examine and correct the journal before it 
is read. He shall have a general direction 
of the Hall. He shall have the right to 
name any member to perform the duties of 
the chair, but such substitution shall not 
extend beyond an adjournment. 

7. In all cases of ballot or viva voce vote, 
by the Convention, the president shall vote; 
in other cases he shall not vote, unless the 
Convention be equally divided, or unless 
his vote, if given to the minority, will 
make a division equal; and in case of such 
equal division, the question shall be lost. 

8. In case of any disturbance or dis¬ 
orderly conduct in the gallery or lobby, the 
president, (or chairman of the committee 
of the whole Convention,) shall have the 
power to order the same to be cleared. 

9. No person shall be admitted within 
the bar but the members of the Conven¬ 
tion, officers of the General or State Go¬ 
vernment, and such other persons as the 
president may think proper to invite to a 
seat in the Convention. 

Of Decorum and Debate. 

10. When any member is about to speak 
in debate, or deliver any matter to the Con¬ 
vention, he shall rise from his seat, and 
respectfully address himself to the pre¬ 
sident. 

11. If any member in speaking or other¬ 
wise, transgress the rules of the Conven- 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 7 


tion, the president shall, or any member 
may, call to order; in which case the mem¬ 
ber so called to order shall immediately sit 
down, unless permitted to explain; and the 
Convention shall, if appealed to, decide on 
the case, but without debate; if there be 
no appeal, the decision of the chair shall 
be submitted to; if the decision be in favor 
of the member called to order, he shall be 
at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, and the 
case require it, he shall be liable to the 
censure of the Convention. 

12. When two or more members hap¬ 
pen to rise at once, the president shall name 
the person who is first to speak. 

13. No member shall speak more than 
twice on the same question, without leave 
of the Convention, nor more than once, 
until every member choosing to speak, 
shall have spoken. 

14. Whilst the president is putting any 
question, or addressing the Convention, 
none shall walk out of or across the hall; 
nor, in such case, or when a member is 
speaking, shall entertain private discourse, 
nor whilst a member is speaking, shall pass 
between him and the chair. 

15. No member shall vote on any ques¬ 
tion, in the event of which he is imme¬ 
diately and particularly interested; or in 
any other case, when he is not present when 
the question was put, without leave of the 
Convention. 

16. Upon a division and count of the 
Convention on any question, no member 
without the bar shall be counted. 

17. Every member who shall be in the 
Convention when a question is put, shall 
give his vote, unless the Convention, for 
special reasons, shall excuse him. 

18. When a motion is made and second¬ 
ed, it shall be stated by the president, or, 
being in writing, it shall be handed to the 
chair, and read aloud by the secretary, 
before debated. 

19. Every motion shall be reduced to 
writing, if the president or any member 
desire it. 

20. After a motion is stated by the pre¬ 
sident, or read by the secretary, it shall be 
deemed to be in possession of the Conven¬ 
tion, but may be withdrawn at any time 
before a decision or amendment. 

21. When a question is under debate, 
no motion shall be received, but to adjourn; 
to lay on the table; for the previous ques¬ 


tion; to postpone to a day certain; to com¬ 
mit or amend; to postpone indefinitely; 
which several motions shall have prece¬ 
dence in the order in which they are ar¬ 
ranged; and no motion to postpone to a 
day certain, to commit or postpone indefi¬ 
nitely, being decided, shall be again al¬ 
lowed on the same day, and at the same 
st^ge of the proposition. 

22. A motion to adjourn shall always 
be in order; that and the motion to 
lay on the table, shall be decided without 
debate. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend it by strik 
ing out the words “that and the motion to 
lay on the table.” His motion was car¬ 
ried by the casting vote of the president. 

The rule as amended, viz: “A motion 
“to adjourn shall always be in order, and 
“ shall be decided without debate,” was 
adopted. 

23. All questions except those enume¬ 
rated in rule 21st, shall be put in the order 
they are moved, except that in filling up 
blanks, the largest sum and the largest time 
shall be first put. 

24. The previous question shall be in 
this form: “Shall the main question be now 
put?” It shall only be admitted when de¬ 
manded by a majority of the members pres¬ 
ent, and until it is decided, shall preclude 
all amendments and further debate of the 
main question, and must be decided without 
debate. 

25. When the Convention adjourns, 
every member shall keep his seat, until the 
president passes the last seat on his way 
out of the Convention. 

26. Any member may call for the divi¬ 
sion of the question, when the sense will 
admit of it. 

27. A motion for commitment, till it is 
decided, shall preclude all amendment of 
the main question. 

28. Motions and reports may be commit¬ 
ted at the pleasure of the Convention. 

29. No new motion or proposition on a 
subject, different from that under conside¬ 
ration, shall be admitted under color of 
amendment, or as a substitute for the motion 
or proposition under debate. 

30. When a motion has once been made, 
or carried in the affirmative or negative, it 
shall be in order for any member of the 
majority to move for the reconsideration 

| thereof; Provided , it is made on the same 




8 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana• 


day or the next sitting day, before the order 
of the day is taken up. 

31. When the reading of a paper is 
called for, and the same is objected to by 
any member, it shall be determined by a 
vote of the Convention. 

32. The unfinished business in which 
the Convention was engaged, at the time 
of the last adjournment, shall have the pre¬ 
ference in the orders of the day; and no 
motion, or any other business, shall be re¬ 
ceived without special leave of the Conven¬ 
tion, until the former is disposed of. 

33. In all other cases of ballot a majority 
of the votes given shall be necessary to an 
election, and where there shall not be such 
a majority on the first ballot, the. ballot shall 
be repeated until a majority be obtained. 

34. In all cases when others than mem¬ 
bers of the Convention may be eligible, 
there shall be a previous nomination. 

35. Any five members, including the 
president, shall be authorized to compel the 
attendance of absent members. 

36. Upon calls of the Convention, or in 
taking the yeas and nays in any question, 
the names of the members shall be called 
alphabetically. 

37. Any member may excuse himself 
from serving on any committee at the time 
of his appointment, if he is then a member 
of other committees. 

Rule 38. “No member shall absent him- 
“self from the service of the Convention, 
“ unless he have leave, or be sick and un- 
“ able to attend.” 

Mr. Leonard moved to amend this rule 
by striking out the words he have leave; the 
amendment was lost, and the rule adopted. 

38. No member shall absent himself 
from the service of the Convention, unless 
he have leave, or be sick and unable to 
attend. 

39. In order to insure the punctual at¬ 
tendance of the members, a call shall take 
place at the commencement of every day’s 
sitting, by the secretary, who shall note 
the absentees; but shall remove the notes 
from the names of such members as appear 
in the course of that day’s sitting; the 
names of those who do not attend, shall be 
entered on the Journal, and they shall re¬ 
ceive no salary for that day, unless excused 
by the Convention. 

40. A sergeant-at-arms shall be ap¬ 
pointed to hold his office during the pleasure 


of the Convention, whose duty it shall be ter 
attend the Convention during its sittings; to 
execute the commands of the Convention 
from time to time, together with all such 
process issued by authority thereof, as shall 
be directed to him by the president. 

41. There shall be a committee of elec¬ 
tions, whose duty it shall be to examine 
and report upon the certificate of election 
or other credentials of the members re¬ 
turned to serve in this Convention, and to 
take into consideration all such petitions 
and other matters touching elections and 
returns, as shall or may be presented or 
come in question, and be referred to them 
by the Convention, and on any other mat¬ 
ter in relation to the manner, times and 
places of holding elections- 

42. No committee shall sit during the 
sitting of the Convention, without special 
leave. 

43. No standing rule or order of the 
Convention shall be recinded without one 
day’s notice being given of the motion 
thereof. 

44. The secretary of the Convention 
shall take an oath for the true and faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office, to the 
best of his knowledge and abilities; and 
shall be deemed to continue in office until 
another be appointed. He shall enter in 
the journals all motions on which a vote of 
the Convention shall have been taken. 

45. The secretary shall not suffer any 
records or papers to be taken from the 
table, or out of his custody, by any mem¬ 
ber, or other person. 

46. No standing rule or order of the 
Convention shall in any case be suspend¬ 
ed or dispensed with, without the concur¬ 
rence of four-fifths of the members present. 

. Rule 50. “It shall be a standing order, 
“ that the Convention shall every day re- 
“ solve itself into a committee of the whole, 
“ to consider the existing Constitution, and 
“ such propositions for the amendment or 
“ alteration thereof, as shall be referred to 
“ or made in said committee.” 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the said rule 
was rejected, 

Mr. Conrad moved for the re-considera¬ 
tion of the 30th rule, and his motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Rule 30. “When a motion has once been 
made, or carried in the affirmative or ne¬ 
gative, it shall be in order for any member 






9 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


of the majority to move for the re-consi¬ 
deration thereof, provided it is made on the 
same day, or the next sitting day before 
the order of the day is taken up.” 

On motion of Mr. Conrad, this rule 
was amended by the addition of the fol¬ 
lowing proviso, viz: “provided further, that 
this rule do not apply to the provision of 
the Constitution which may have been 
adopted, and which shall always be sub¬ 
ject to re-consideration, after two days’ 
notice being given thereof,” whicli motion 
was granted, and the rule adopted as 
amended. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the Con¬ 
vention re-considered the 35th rule and re¬ 
jected it. 

Rule 51. “In forming the committee of 
the whole, the president shall leave the 
chair, and a chairman to preside in 
committee shall be appointed by the pre¬ 
sident;” which rule was rejected. 

Rule 52. “In the committee of the whole 
Convention, the ayes and nays shall not 
be called.” This rule was rejected. 

Rule 47. “Every member in address¬ 
ing the Convention, shall confine himself 
strictly to the subject matter under debate, 
and the address of no member to the Con¬ 
vention shall exceed one hour, unless by 
special permission of the Convention.” 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the rule was 
amended by striking out the words ‘'and 
the address of no member to the Conven¬ 
tion shall exceed one hour , $'C V ;” and the 
rule as amended, viz: 

“Every member in addressing the Con¬ 
vention, shall confine himself strictly to 
the subject matter under debate ;” was 
adopted. 

Mr. Roman’s additional article, viz: 

Rule 48. “There shall be appointed a 
standing committee of five, whose duty it 
shall be to revise, in English and French, 
every article of the Constitution, after it is 
adopted by the Convention, and report 
the same to the • Convention on the next 
day, or as soon thereafter as practicable 
for its second reading,—was read and 
adopted. 

Rule 49. “ In all cases to which the 
above rules will not apply, the Jefferson’s 
manual shall govern the Convention.” 
The same was adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved that the rules be 
printed in pamphlet form, in the French 
2 


and English languages, and that one hun¬ 
dred copies be printed in each of the langu¬ 
ages, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs moved to incorporate among 
the rules the following, viz: “The docu¬ 
ments ordered to be printed by the Con¬ 
vention and the debates of the Convention, 
in pamphlet forms, shall be printed on 
paper of the same size of the printed jour¬ 
nals of this Convention, and a copy sheet 
be bound with each journal, to be furnish, 
ed to the members of the Convention, at 
the end of the session, and it shall be the 
duty of the printer of the Convention, to 
print one hundred additional copies order¬ 
ed to be printed for the above purpose.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to lay the same on 
the table subject to the call of the Conven¬ 
tion; his motion prevailed. 

Mr. Sellers moved, that the statistical 
information called for by the Convention, 
and furnished by the reports of the State 
Treasurer, be printed as speedily as pos¬ 
sible. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved that a commit¬ 
tee be appointed to examine the reports, 
containing this statistical information be¬ 
fore printing; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Sellers’ motion was then adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 2. “No person or persons being 
“one of these departments or holding office 
“under one of them, shall exercise any 
“powers properly belonging to either of the 
“others; except in the cases hereinafter ex¬ 
pressly directed or permitted,” was read 
and adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved to take up the second 
article of the Constitution, and that the sec¬ 
tions of the Constitutions of 1812 be first 
read, and then the sections as reported by 
the committee. 

Article II. of the Constitution of 

1812. 

Section 1. “The Legislative power of 
“this State shall be vested in two distinct 
“branches, the one to be styled the House 
“of Representatives, the other the Senate, 
“and both together the General Assembly 
“of the State of Louisiana,” was read. 

Mr. Ratliff moved the re-adoption of 
this section of the Constitution of 1812, and 
his motion prevailed: 




10 ' Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Article II. as reported by the 

COMMITTEE. 

Section 1 . “The Legislative power of 
“this State shall be vested in two distinct 
“branches, the one to be styled the House 
“of Representatives, the other the Senate; 
“and both together, the General Assembly 
“of the State of Louisiana,” was read. 
Article II. of the Constitution of 

1812. 

Section 2. “The members of the House 
“of Representatives shall continue in ser- 
“vice for the term of two years from the day 
“of the commencement of the. general elec¬ 
tion,” was read. 

Article II. as reported by the 
committee. 

Section 2. “The members of the House 
“of Representatives shall continue in ser- 
“vice for the term of two years from the day 
“of the closing of the general elections,” 
was read and adopted. 

Article II. of the Constitution 
of 1812. 

Section 3. “Representatives shall be 
“chosen on the first Monday in July, every 
“two years, and the General Assembly shall 
“convene on the first Monday in January in 
“every year, unless a different day be ap¬ 
pointed by law, and their sessions shall 
“be held at the seat ot government,” was 
read. 

• Article II. as reported by the 

COMMITTEE. 

Section 3. “Representatives shall be 
“chosen on the first Monday, one day only, 
“in September every two years, and the 
“General Assembly shall convene on the 
“third Monday in January in every second 
“year, unless a different day be appointed 
“by law, and their different sessions shall be 
“held at the seat of government.” 

“The first election under this Constitu¬ 
tion shall take place in the year-,” 

was read. 

Mr. Winder moved to strike out the 
word “September,” and insert in lieu there¬ 
of the word “June.” 

Mr. Sellers moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment by striking out the name of the month 
and leaving it blank. 

While this motion was under debate, the 
Convention adjourned to to-morrow, at II 
o’clock, A. M. 


Friday, January 17, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

The President submitted the following 
letter from the Right Rev. Blanc, Bishop 
of New Orleans: 

New Orleans, January 15, 1845. 
Bishopric of New Orleans: 

Sir—I have the honor to acknowledge 
the reception of your note of this date. 

In answer, I beg leave to state that as 
soon as I was informed that the Convention 
of our State had assembled in the town of 
Jackson, I instructed the clergy and laity 
under my charge to offer up public prayers, 
that the Almighty might in his goodness 
vouchsafe to direct the deliberations of the 
Convention, so that their decisions might 
lie profitable to the people in whose behalf 
they were assembled, and that these prayers 
should be continued daily during the entire 
session of the Convention. 

In relation to the daily opening prayer, I 
would beg leave, respectfully, to request in 
the name of my clergy, that we be dispen¬ 
sed from attending to it. Any arrange¬ 
ments which the divines, who may have be¬ 
gun, will make between themselves, will 
be agreeable to us. I have the honor to be, 
very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

Ant. Bp. of New Orleans. 

To the Hon. Jo. E. Walker, President of 

the State Convention of Louisiana. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, moved that the sum 
of $100 be allowed Mr. Kelly, printer to 
the Convention, for th£ printing of one hun¬ 
dred pamphlets, and $50 for printing blank 
warrants for the Convention, and the same 
was allowed. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz : 

“ Resolved , That the sergeant-at-arms, 
under the direction of the president of the 
Convention, be directed to'provide seats in 
the lobby, for the use of such persons as 
may attend the procedings of the Conven¬ 
tion, and suitable seats and tables for the 
reporters of the several newspapers of the 
city.” The same was adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 3. “Representatives shall be chosen 









Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


11 


on the first Monday, one day only, in Sep¬ 
tember, every two years, and the General 
Assembly shall convene on the third Mon¬ 
day in January, in every second year, un¬ 
less a different day be appointed by law, and 
their different sessions shall be held at the 
seat of government.” 

On the adjournment, yesterday, the Con¬ 
vention had under consideration the motion 
to strike out the word September. 

Mr. Taylor, of Assumption, moved to 
lay on the table, subject to call, the motion 
to strike out. 

His motion was lost. 

Mr. Ratliff called for the yeas and 
nays, on the motion to strike out, and 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Brent, Briant , Burton, Cenas , Chambliss, 
Chinn, Claiborne , Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn,Eustis,Garcia,Garrett,Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Penn, .Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Roselius St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester, and Winder, 
voted in the affirmative—48 yeas. 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Carriere, Covillion, Leonard, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Peet, Porehe, 
Prudhomme, Read, Scott, of Baton Rouge, 
Scott,, of Feliciana, Voorhies, Waddill, and 
Waderstrand, voted in the negative—20 
nays ; consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Winder moved to fill the blank with 
the word June, and the yeas and nays 
being called for, resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad, 
of New Orleans, Conrad, of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Guion,Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amant, Saunders, Winchester, and 
Winder, voted in the affirmative—28 yeas. 

Messrs. Beatty, Bra,zeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Couvillon, Downs, Eusiis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Huble, Leonard,McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porehe, Pres¬ 
cott, of Avoyelles, Prescott, of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Rall ff, Read, Scott, 
of Baton Rouge, Scott, of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor, of Assumption, 


Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth , and 
Weder strand, voted in the negative—40 
nays ; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. McRae moved to fill the blank with 
the word October; and the yeas and nays 
being called for, resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Humble,Leonard,Me Callop,McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porehe, Pres¬ 
cott, of Avoyelles, Prescott, of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Voorhies and Weder - 
strand, voted in the affirmative—26 nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes,Dunn, Eusiis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazareau, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Waddill, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Winder, voted in the negative-42 nays; 
the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Burton to fill up the 
blank with the word November, the yeas 
and nays being called, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carrierre, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Leonard, McCallop, Me- 
Rea, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porehe, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Weder strand and Winder, voted 
in the affirmative—33 yeas. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eusiis, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazareau, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Splane, Trist, Wadsworth and 
Winchester, voted in the negative—34 
nays; the motion was therefore lost. 

Mr. McRea moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow at 11 o’clock A. M., 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum- 
held, Carriere, Covillion , Chambliss, Downs, 
Dunn, Hudspeth, Humble, King, Labauve, 
Leonard, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 




12 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Stephens and Waddill, voted for 
the motion—25 yeas. 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty, Benjamin , Boa - 
dousquie , Bourg, Burton , Cade, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad, of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, 
Kenner, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mc.Cal¬ 
lop Mazareau, Penn, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Am,and, Saunders, Sellers, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth Weder- 
strand, Winchester and Winder, voting 
against the motion, 43 nays; the same was 
lost. 

Mr. Garrett moved to fill up the blank 
with the words the fourth Monday of 
November. 

The President decided this motion to be 
out of order, because the blank was to be 
filled by the name of the month only, the 
section containing already the particular 
Monday of the month—and Mr. Garrett 
proposed to appeal from the decision of the 
chair. 

Mr. Eustis moved to fill up the blank 
with the word July, and before putting the 
quest ion, on motion of Mr. Chinn, the Con¬ 
vention adjourned till to-morrow at 11 
o’clock, A. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Hyn- 
son, O’Bryan, Porter, Scott of Madison, 
Soule on leave, Taylor of St. Landry, and 
Wikoff. 


Saturday, January 18, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Watkins opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Splane, having voted in the majori¬ 
ty, moved the re-consideration of the vote 
given on yesterday, to fill the blank in sec¬ 
tion 3d, article 2d, with the word “Novem¬ 
ber,” his motion was adopted. 

The President appointed on the com¬ 
mittee of revisa), Messrs. Eustis, Roman, 
Miles Taylor, Brent and Mazareau. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS ROPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 3d. Representatives shall be chosen 

on the first Monday, one day only, in-, 

every two years; and the General Assem¬ 


bly shall convene on the third Monday of 
January, in every second year, unless a 
different day be appointed by law, and then 
different sessions shall be held at the seat 
of government. 

The first election under this constitution, 
shall take place in the year-. 

Mr. Penn moved that the Convention 
take up, as first in order, the question to fill 
up the blank in the 3d section, aiticle sec¬ 
ond, with the month “November.” 

The President decided that the carry¬ 
ing the motion to re-considcr the vote given 
yesterday, to fill the blank in the 3d section 
of article 2d, with the month of “November,” 
did not disturb the right of precedence of 
the motion of Mr. Eustis, to fill the blank 
with the month of “July.” That motion 
being under consideration at the preceding 
adjournment. 

Mr. Mayo appealed from the decision of 
the president; the Convention sustained the 
decision of the chair. 

Mr. Grymes gave notice that he will, 
on some future day, offer an amendment to 
section 3d and article 2d, of the Constitu¬ 
tion, as reported by the committee. 

On the motion of Mr. Eustis, to fill up 
the blank with “July,” the yeas andi nays 
being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield , Cenas, Claiborne, 
Derbes, Grymes, Hudspeth, Humble, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mt- 
Callop, McRae, Mazareau, Prudhomme, 
Read, Romain, Roselius, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Trist 
and Wadsworth, voted in the affirmative— 
28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Auburt, Benjamin. Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett, Guion , Hynson, Kenner , 
Leonard , Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott. of St. Landry, Preston , Pugh, Ratliff, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of As- 
I sumption, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrand 
i and Winder, voted in the negative—39 
i nays; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Guion moved that the blank be filled 
with the word “May,” and the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert. Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg , Briant, Cenas , Chinn, Claiborne , 










Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 13 


Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazarea.it, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Romain, Roselius, Saunders, Sellers and 
Trist, voted for the motion—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale , Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Garrett,Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Leonard, McCallop, McRae , Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Peels, Penn, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth and Wederstrand, voted against 
the motion—37 nays; which motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Splane moved to fill the blank with 
the word “ November ,” and the yeas and 
nays having been called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Co- 
villion, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peels, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
hommme, Pugh, Read, Roselius, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor, of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder¬ 
strand and Winder, voted in the affirmative 
—48 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Derbes, Guion, Hudspeth, Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Mazareau, 
Ratliff, Roman, Saunders and Trist , voted 
in the negative—18 nays, consequently the 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Kenner moved to strike out the 
first Monday and insert the fourth Monday, 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Grymes, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazareau, Pres¬ 
ton, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Sanders, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, and 
Winder, voted in favor of the motion—32 
yeas; and 


Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton Cade , Carriere, Chambliss , 
Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson, Le¬ 
doux, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Marigny 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read , Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Weder¬ 
strand,voting against the motion—35 nays, 
the same was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
fill the blank in the 3d section, article 2d, 
with the words “third monday of Novem¬ 
ber.” 

Mr. Waddill moved for a division, that 
is, that the Convention shall first proceed 
to strike out the “first monday,” his motion 
was adopted. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion to strike out the “first monday,” 
and resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Grymes , 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Mazareau, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Sellers, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, and Trist, voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent., Brum- 
held, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Leonord, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Marigny , Mayo, Peets, Penn , 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ra.tliff, Read., Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad¬ 
dill, Wederstrand and Winder, voted in the 
negative—30 nays, consequently the motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Culbertson gave notice that he 
would move the re-consideration of the vote 
given to fill the blank, in the 3d section of 
article 2d, with the month of “November.” 

Mr. Mayo moved to fill the blank in the 
last paragraph of section 3d, article 2d, with 
“1845.” 

Mr. Dunn gave notice that he would 
move the re-consideration of the vote given 
to fill the blank in the 3d section, article 2d, 
with the month of “July.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to lay the motion, to 
fill the blank last paragraph in the 3d 



u 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


section, article 2d, with “1845,” on the 
table, subject to call—the same was adop¬ 
ted. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
monday next at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Gar¬ 
cia, O’Bryan, St. Amant, Scott of Madison, 
Soule on leave, Taylor of St. Landry, Wi- 
koff and Winchester. 


Monday, January 20th, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad- 
j ournment. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Voorhies submitted to the Conven¬ 
tion a memorial from Mr. John D. Wil¬ 
kins of the county of Attakapas, suggest¬ 
ing his views on the amendments, altera¬ 
tions, or changes to be made to the Con¬ 
stitution of the State of Louisiana; and 
pending the reading, 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved that 
the said memorial be laid on the table in¬ 
definitely, and the ayes and nays being 
called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs, Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, M’Rae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porche, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist and Winder voted in the 
affirmative,—40 yeas, and 

Messrs. Brent, Cade, Carriere, Censas, 
Chambliss, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, King, Leonard, O’¬ 
Bryan, Penn. Porter,PrescottofSt. Landry, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Ratliff, 
Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill and Wederstrandt voted in the nega¬ 
tive,—23 nays, the motion was therefore 
adopted. 

The President submitted the following 
letter from J. A. Kelly, printer to the Con¬ 
vention, which was read: 

January 20th, 1845. 

To Hon. Joseph Walker , President of the 
Convention of Louisiana . 

Dear Sir: —To facilitate the printer to 
the Convention in the punctual discharge 
of his duties, he respectfully asks that a 
draft be drawn on the State Treasurer in 


his favor on account of printing already 
done for the sum of three hundred and fifty 
dollars; you will please call the attention 
of the Convention to this subject and 
greatly oblige Yourob’t serv’t. 

(Signed) J. A. KELLY. 

On motion of Mr. Garrett, said letter 
was referred to the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses. 

Mr. Mayo moved the re-consideration 
of the vote given on Saturday to fill the 
blank in the last paragraph of section third 
and article second with 1845, and laid on 
the table subject to the call of the Conven¬ 
tion, which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Beatty moved that the same be 
laid on the table subject to the call of the 
Convention, and called for ayes and nays, 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin,Brent, 
Bourg, Briant, Carriere, Censas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, 
Penn, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth and Winder voted in the affirmative, 
—47 ayes, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Covillion, Garrett, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Leonard, McRae, Mayo, Porche, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Ratliff, Soule, Waddill and We¬ 
derstrandt voted in the negative,—19 nays, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Culbertson withdrew the notice 
he gave to re-consider the vote given to fill 
the blank in the third section, article se¬ 
cond with the month of “November.” 

Mr. Dunn, agreeably to notice, moved the 
re-consideration of the vote given to fill the 
blank in the third section, article second 
with the month of “July.” 

Mr. Culbertson moved to lay said mo¬ 
tion on the table subject to the call of the 
Convention, and his motion was lost. 

Mr. Dunn then renewed his motion for 
re-consideration, and the same was lost— 
some of the delegates declared that they 
had misunderstood the question. 

Mr. Wadsworth gave notice that he 





15 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


would, on Thursday next, move the re¬ 
consideration of the vote given to fill the 
blank in the third section, article second, 
with the month of “November.” 

Mr. Benjamin gave notice that he would 
move the re-consideration of the vote given 
to fill the blank in the third section, article 
second with “July.” 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 3d. “Representatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday, one day only, in 
November every two years, and the gene¬ 
ral assembly shall convene on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion in every second year, unless a different 
day be appointed by law, and their diffe¬ 
rent sessions shall be held at the seat of 
government.” 

The first election under this Constitution 
shall take place in the year-. 

Mr. Read moved to adopt the first para¬ 
graph of section third, article second of 
the Constitution as amended. 

Mr. Preston moved to strike out after 
the words “In January in every,” the word 
“second” from the said first paragraph of 
section third, article second; and the yeas 
and nays being called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Guion, Preston, Pugh, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption and Win¬ 
chester voted in favor of the motion,—7 
yeas, and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Splane, Trist, Yoorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Winder voted against 
the motion,—60 nays, which motion was 
therefore lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said 3d 
section of article 2d by inserting in the 
first paragraph, after the word - 


the words “next ensuing the election,” and 
his motion was adopted. 

Mr. Culbertson moved to strike out 
from the first paragraph of the 3d section, 
article 2d, the words “unless a different 
day be appointed by law and his motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Read moved for the adoption of the 
first paragraph of the 3d section, article 2d, 
and called for the yeas and nays, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
cia, Garret, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, McRae, Marginy, Mayo, Mazu¬ 
reau,O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voor- 
hies, Waddill and Wederstrandt, voted in the 
affirmative—60 yeas, and 

Messers Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Pugh, 
Roselius, Saunders, Stephens and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—8 nays: the 
motion was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 
take under consideration the 4th section 
article 2d of the Constitution as reported 
by the committee—viz : 

Article II. 

“Section 4. No person shall be a repre¬ 
sentative who, at the time of his election, 
is not afree white male citizen of the United 
States and hath not attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the State 
two f years next preceding his election, and 
the last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen.” 

Mr. Sellers moved to reject the said 
4th section of article 2d. 

Mr. Read offered the following substi- 

o 

tute, viz : 

“Every qualified elector, under this Con¬ 
stitution shall be eligible to a seat in the 
house of representatives”—in lieu of the 
4th section of article 2d, and called for the 
yeas and nays—and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Chambliss, Le¬ 
doux, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 







16 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Madison, Stephens, Trist and Waddill 
voted for the substitute—15 yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Co- 
viliion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Garcia, Grymes, Garrett, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Ledoux, Leonard, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius Scott of Baton Rouge, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted against the substitute—52 
nays, consequently the same was rejected. 

On motion of Mr. Guion, Mr. Sellers’ 
motion to reject the 4th section of article 2d, 
was laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Kenner, moved to strike out of the 
4tli section, article 2d after the words, “ and 
resided in the State” the word “two,” 
and called for the yeas and nays, which 
resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—36 yeas, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Culbertson, Downs, 
Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
J.jeonard, McRae, Marginy, Mayo, Peels, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott, of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—33 nays, the motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs moved an adjournment till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock A, M., and the 
yeas and nays being called 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Kenner, Labauve, 
Legendre, Leonard, Mazureau, Preston, 
Ratliff', Roselius, Scott of Feliciana, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 


worth, Wederstrandt and Winchester voted 
for the adjournment—23 yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Grymes, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, King, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Mar¬ 
igny, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Wad¬ 
dill and Winder voted against the adjourn¬ 
ment—45 nays, and tiie same was not 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the Conven¬ 
tion adjourned till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, 
A. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs Chinn, 
McCallop St. Amand, Taylorof St. Lan¬ 
dry, and Wikoff. 

• — 

Tuesday, January 21st, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Woodbridge opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND AS REPORTED BY TIIE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male citizen of the United 
States, and has not attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the State 
years next preceding his election, 
and the last year thereof in the parish for 
which he may be chosen. 

Mr. Dunn moved to fill the blank in the 
above section fourth, article second, with 
the word “five,” and called for the yeas 
and nays, which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Claiborne, Con- 
lad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative,—32 yeas, and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Cade, Carriere, Culbertson, Downs, Car- 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae* 




17 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, 
Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative,—32 nays, and the president 
giving his casting vote against the amend¬ 
ment; the same was lost. After the ad¬ 
journment,- Mr. .Chambliss called at the 
desk, examined the ayes and nays and not 
finding his vote recorded, directed it to be 
inserted, as he had voted against the amend¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Lewis then moved to fill the blank 
in the said fourth section, article second 
with the word “four,” and called for the 
yeas and nays, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Couvillon, Derbes, Dunn,Garcia, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Saunders, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative,—34 yeas, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Culbertson, Downs, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Reid, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Splane, Trist, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted against the amend¬ 
ment,—31 nays; the same was adopted. 

Mr. Voorhies offered to the said fourth 
section of article second the following pro¬ 
viso, viz: 

“Provided, that in case he be a natura¬ 
lized citizen, the tune of his residence in 
the State, shall be computed from the time 
of his naturalization,” and the yeas and 
nays being called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows, viz: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillon, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Grymes, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saunders, 
Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, | 
3 


Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Winder voted in favor of the amend¬ 
ment, —39 yeas, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, 
Reid, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted against 
the amendment,—32 nays; consequently 
the same was carried. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock A. M. 

Note.—Members absent: Messrs. Chinn, 
McCallop, St. Amand, Taylor of St. 
Landry and Wikoff. 

Wednesday, January, 22, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the com¬ 
mittee on contingent expenses, offered the 
following resolution which was read and 
adopted : 

“ Resolved , That J. A. Kelly, printer to 
the convention be allowed the sum of three 
hundred and fifty dollars,. on account of 
printing done and to be done by the said 
Kelly under a resolution of the convention.” 

Mr. Carriere, offered the following 
resolution: 

“ Resolved , That the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be authorized to allow to 
the clerks attached to the Convention their 
mileage from Jackson to New Orleans ” 

Mr. Carriere moved that said resolu¬ 
tion be referred to the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses—which motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved the rejection of the 
above resolution, and called for the yeas and 
nays—which resulted as follows—viz: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra - 
zeale , Brent, Briant, Buaton, Chambliss, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Prudhomme, Pugh, Rat¬ 
liff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor, of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, and Waddill, voted for the re¬ 
jection—32 yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 




18 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Covillion, Dunn, Guion , Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, McCallop , McRae, Marigny, 
O'Bryan, Porter, Penn, Prescott of Avoyel¬ 
les, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston , Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, of Feliciana, 
ScoW of Madison, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, and Wederstrandt, voted in the 
negative— 26 nays ; the resolution was con¬ 
sequently rejected. 

Mr. Downs enquired why it was that 
reports of the debates of the sittings of the 
Convention at New Orleans had not yet been 
published by the printer to the Convention. 

The secretary in answer stated, that both 
reporters declared that the reports of the 
debates were up to time—that the reports 
up to Friday had been delivered to the prin¬ 
ter of the Convention, and the others had 
not been delivered to him, because he had 
not as yet published those in hand. 

Mr. Humble moved that Mr. Porche be 
excused from attending in the Convention 
owing to illness; his motion was granted, 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPOTRED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

“ Section 4. No person shall be a re¬ 
presentative who, at the time of his election, 
is not a free white male citizen of the 
United States, and hath not attained the. 
age of twenty-one years, and resided in 
in the State four years, next preceding 
his election, and the last year thereof in 
the Parish for which he may be chosen, 
provided that in case he be a naturalized 
citizen, the time of his residence in the 
State, shall be computed from the time of 
his naturalization. ” 

Mr. Lewis moved the adoption of the 
above section 4th, article 2d, as amended. 

Mr. Marigny moved the rejection of 
said section 4th, article 2d, as amended. 

Mr. Culbertson having voted in the ma¬ 
jority gave notice that he would on Satur¬ 
day next move the reconsideration of the 
vote on the proviso of Mr. Voorhies to said 
4th section, article 2d. 

On motion, of Mr. Ledoux the ^Conven¬ 
tion adjourned till to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, 
A. M. 

Note. —Members absent Messrs. Porche 
on leave on account of illness, and WikofF. 


Thursday, January 23, 1845. 
The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment, and the proceedings were opened 
w'di prayer from the Rev. Mr. Hinton. 


Mr. Wadsworth, in compliance with 
notice, moved the re-consideration ol the 
vote given to fdl the blank in section 3d and 
article 2d, with the month of “November,” 
and called for the yeas and nays, which re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, and Wadsworth voted in 
the affirmative—27 yeas. 

Messrs. Bourg, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
Leonard, McCallop, Ale Rea, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of F eliciana, Scott of Mad i son, Sellers,Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winder, voted 
in the negative—37 nays; the motion was 
therefore lost. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved that a commit¬ 
tee of five be appointed to enquire of the 
printer to the Convention, why it is that the 
reports of the debates of the Convention 
have not been printed according to contract, 
which motion having been adopted— 

The President appointed Messrs. Wads¬ 
worth, Lewis, Claiborne and O’Bryan, mem¬ 
bers of that committee. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 4. “No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative who, at the time of his election is not 
a free white male citizen of the United 
States, and hath not attained the age of 
twenty one years, and resided in the State 
four years next preceding his election, and 
the last year thereof in the parish tor which 
he may be chosen. Provided; that in case 
he be a naturalized citizen, the time of his 
residence in the State, shall be computed 
from the time of his naturalization.” 

Mr. Lewis moved the adoption of the 
above section fourth, article second, as 
amended, and called for the yeas and nays. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the adoption of the said section fourth,article 
second, as amended, be postponed until the 
Convention shall havekletermined the quali- 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


19 


fications of electors, and called for the 
yeas and nays; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Chinn, Conrad of New Orleans, CwZ- 
berison, Derbes, Garrett,, Kenner , Roman, 
Roselius, Si. Amand, Saunders, Taylor of 
Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth, and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative; 18 yeas. 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, Me Callop, McRae, Mcirig- 
ny, Mayo, Mazureau, (VBryan, Peels, 
Pennf Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott, of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, 'Frist, Waddill, Wederstrand, 
and Winder , voted against the motion—55 
nays; consequently the same was lost. 

Mr. Lewis then renewed his motion for 
the adoption, and the yeas and nays resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cenas, Chinn , Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Derbes, Dunn, Grymes, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Winchester, and Winder, voted 
for the adoption—37 yeas. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, 
Garcia, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leon¬ 
ard, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
O’Bryan Peels, Penn, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor oi 
Assumption, Trisl, Waddill, and Weder¬ 
strandt, voted against the adoption — 3b 
nays: and the. president voting with the mi¬ 
nority, made the division equal, conse¬ 
quently the motion was nut adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Grymes for the ad¬ 
journment of the Convention till to-moriow 
at 11 o’clock A. M., the yeas and nays 
being called, 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, 
Kenner, Labauve, Leonard, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Pi'escotf, of St. Landry, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius St. Amand, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, and Winchester, 
voted in favor of the adjournment—43 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Chinn, Derbes, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Legendre, Lewis, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Preston, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trisl, Waddill, and 
Winder, voting against the adjournment 
—26 nays; consequently the motion pre¬ 
vailed, and the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow^ at 11 o’clock a. m 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Wi- 
koff, andPorche on leave. 


Friday, 24th January, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment, and its proceedings were opened 
by prayer, from the Rev. Mr. Warren. 

Mr. Dunn moved that the claim of Mr. 
Robert Perry, for furnishing awnings to the 
Convention while at Jackson, and for the 
transportation of furniture from Jackson to 
New Orleans, be referred to the committee 
on contingent expenses; his motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Wederstrandt offered the following 
resolution, which was read and adopted: 

“ Resolved, That the serjeant at arms be 
directed to remove the bar in the rear of 
the hall, so that members may have space 
to pass around from one to the other side 
of the hall.” 

Mr. Splane moved that a committee of 
three be appointed, to contract with two 
newspapers of the city, to give a synopsis 
of the debates, questions, their decisions, 
and the yeas and nays thereon, of the Con* 
vention. 

Ylr, Guion moved to lay the same on 
the table, subject to call, and his motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Guion gave notice that he would 
introduce a rule to permit any member of 





20 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the Convention to move for the re-conside¬ 
ration of a question on which a division 
was equal. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND OF THE CONSTITUTION 

OF 1812. 

Sec. 5. Elections for representatives 
for the several counties entitled to repre¬ 
sentation, shall be held at the places of 
holding their respective courts, or in the 
several election precincts, into which the 
legislature may think proper, from time to 
time, to divide any or all of those counties. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 5. Election for representatives for 
the several parishes, or representative dis¬ 
tricts, entitled to representation, shall be 
held at the several election precincts estab- 
- lished by law, and which the legislature, 
having in view the convenience of the vo¬ 
ters, may from time to time establish; pro¬ 
vided, that the legislature may delegate the 
power of establishing election precincts to 
the parochial or municipal authorities. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the fifth sec¬ 
tion of article second, as reported' by the 
committee, was adopted. 

Mr. Brent moved to lav on the table, 
subject to call, the sixth and seventh sec-, 
tions of article second, as reported by the 
committee, and that the Convention pro¬ 
ceed to the consideration of the eighth sec¬ 
tion of said article; his motion prevailed. 
article second, as reported. 

Sec, 8. In all elections for represen¬ 
tatives, every free white male citizen of 
the United States who, at the time being, 
hath attained the age of twenty-one years, 
and resided in the State two years next 
preceding the election, and the last year 
thereof in the parish in which he offers to 
vote, shall have the right of voting. Elec¬ 
tors shall in all cases, except treason, felo¬ 
ny, breach or surety of the peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, or going to, or returning from elections. 

Mr. Mayo offered, as a substitute to the 
above section, the eighth section of the 
same article, as reported by the minority, 
with an additional proviso, viz: 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
MINORITY. 

Sec. 8. Every free white male citizen 
of the United States, of the age of twenty- 
one years, or upwards, who shall have re¬ 


sided in this State one year next preceding 
the election, and the last six months there¬ 
of in the parish or district in which he of¬ 
fers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified 
elector, and be entitled to vote in the parish 
or district where he actually resides, for 
each and every officer made elective by the 
people, under this State or the United 
States. Provided, that no person in the 
military, naval or marine service of the 
United States shall be considered a resi¬ 
dent in this State, by being stationed in any 
garrison, barracks, or military or naval 
place or station within the State; and no 
person under interdiction, or person con¬ 
victed for any c crime punishable by impris¬ 
onment in the penitentiary, unless pardoned 
or restored by law, to the rights of suffrage, 
shall enjoy the right of an elector. Elec¬ 
tors shall in all cases, except treason, felo¬ 
ny, breach or surety of the peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, and returning from the polls. 

Mr. Grymes moved to amend the sub¬ 
stitute by striking out the proviso; his mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Boudousquie then moved to lay 
the substitute indefinately on the table, and 
called for the yeas and nays; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield , Genas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Bunn, Grymes, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth , King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Rose- 
lius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Win¬ 
der, voted in favor of the motion—40 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss , Downs, Eustis, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Ledoux , Leonard, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read , Scott 
of Madison, Soule, Splane and Waddill, 
voted against the motion—28 nays; conse¬ 
quently the same was carried. 

Mr. Voorhies moved to amend the said 
eighth section, article second, by inserting 
the word “ consecutive ” after the words “re¬ 
sided in the State two,” which amendment 
was adopted. 




21 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Mr. Garrett moved to strike out from 
said section eighth, article second, the 
words, “ State two years next preceding 
the election, and the last year thereof in 
the parish in which he offers to vote," and 
insert, in lieu thereof, the words, “ parish 
in which he offers to vote, one year next 
preceding the election .” 

Mr. Grymes moved for a division, that 
is,the Convention shall first proceed to strike 
out, and called for the yeas and nays. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, to adjourn 
the Convention, till Monday next at 11 
o’clock, a. m., the yeas and nays being 
called, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Auburt, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Dunn, Grymes, 
King, Labauve, Marigny, Mazureau, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—18 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent,,Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Covillion, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Me Callop, 
McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Saunders, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor- 
hies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
and Winder, voted in the negative—51 
nays; the motion was consequently lost. 

On motion the Convention adjourned, 
till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Ken¬ 
ner, Porche on leave, and Wikoff. 


Saturday, January 25, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The President submitted to the Con¬ 
vention, the following letter from Messrs. 
J. M. W. Picton, L. Mathews, and Charles 
Harrod, members of the Committee on Pub¬ 
lic Schools of Municipality No. 2, viz: 
Public Schools of Municipality No. 2. 

New Orleans, 24th January, 1845. 

Gentlemen: You are respectfully invited 
to attend the annual examination of the 
public schools of Municipality No. 2. 


The examination of the primary depart¬ 
ments will take place on Monday, 27th in¬ 
stant, commencing at 9 A. M. 

The intermediate departments and “High 
School” on Tuesday and Wednesday, 28th 
and 29th instant, commencing at 9 A. M. 

On the above mentioned days the exami¬ 
nation will take place in the respective 
school rooms, and on Thursday the 30th, 
the pupils of the schools will be assembled 
in the church on Lafayette square, at half 
past 10 A. M., to engage in the exercise of 
declamation, composition, and vocal music: 

By order of the Board: 

(Signed) J. M. W. Picton, } 

L. Mathews, > Com. 
Charles Harrod, j 

In compliance with notice, Mr. Guion 
submitted for the consideration of the Con¬ 
vention the following rule, and the same 
was adopted: 

“ On giving two days’ notice of the time 
for the reconsideration of a decision on a 
provision of the constitution whether the 
decision shall have been by a majority or 
by an equal division, any member of the 
Convention shall have the right to move 
for the reconsideration, no matter on 
which side his vote may have been cast.” 

Mr. Wadsworth, chairman of the com¬ 
mittee to whom was referred the question 
relative to the reporter and printer of the 
Convention, submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

The committee to whom was referred the 
question relative to the reporter and printer 
of the Convention, submit the following re¬ 
solution: 

“ Resolved, That an additional reporter, 
“ in English, be appointed, and a city pa- 
“ per be contracted with, under the superin- 
“ tendance of a committee appointed by the 
“ president-of the Convention, to furnish five 
“ copies of its paper to each member of the 
“ Convention, containing the debates and 
“ proceedings of this body.” 

Mr. Brent offerred to the above the fol¬ 
lowing substitute, viz: 

Whereas, it is evident, that from some 
cause or other, the printer who has been 
elected by this Convention is unable to dis¬ 
charge properly the duties incumbent on 
him, and whereas, he has so far entirely 
failed to furnish us with three numbers of 
his paper per week according to agreement, 
Therefore be it 





22 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Resolved, That J. A. Kelly be discharged 
from his office of printer to this Convention, 
and that he be paid for such services as he 
has performed, and that the committee on 
contingent expenses be instructed to audit 
and settle his accounts, and make report 
thereof to the Convention. 

Resolved, That we proceed to the elec¬ 
tion of a printer, whose compensation shall 
be the same as were awarded to Mr. Kelly. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
recommit the report to the special com¬ 
mittee, with instructions to report what 
contract or contracts have been entered 
into with the printer to the Convention, and 
in what manner he has performed his con¬ 
tract or contracts, and called for the ayes 
and nays, which resulted as follows; 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Grymes, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Lewis, 
McCallop, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt,Wikoff, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—forty yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson, Le- 
doux, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, and Voorhies 
voted in the negative—seventeen nays; the 
motion was therefore carried. 

Mr. Peets offered the following resolu¬ 
tion which was read and adopted: 

“ Resolved , That the door keeper be in- 
44 structed to prepare suitable seats on the 
44 right hand side of the bar, for the special 
44 accommodation of the ladies, who may 
44 wish to attend the deliberations of the 
44 Convention.” 

Mr. Peets offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, which was read and adopted: 

44 Resolved, That the special committee 
“ appointed to examine into the causes of 
“ the printer of this Convention having fail- 

ed to comply with his contract, be instruc. 

“ ted to report on Monday next.” 

On motion, leave of absence was granted ' 
to Messrs. Aubert, Dunn, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Labauve, and Read. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 

Monday next, at 11 o’clock A. M. 


Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au¬ 
bert on leave—Dunn on leave, on account 
of affliction in his family—Kenner, Leon¬ 
ard, Labauve, on leave—Porche on leave 
—Read on leave—S:. Amand, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, on leave—Scott of Madison, 
Soule and Trist. 


Monday, January 27, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Twitchard opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Wadsworth, chairman of the com¬ 
mittee to whom was referred the resolution 
in relation to the printer and reporter of the 
Convention, made the following report, viz., 
and moved the adoption: 

The committee to whom was referred 
the resolution in relation to the printer and 
reporter of the Convention, and who were 
charged to enquire into the contract made 
with said printer, and whether he had com¬ 
plied with the same,respectfully report— 

That the only contract made with said 
printer is to be found in a resolution adopt¬ 
ed by the Convention on the 10th of Au¬ 
gust, 1844, and the bond executed by said 
printer on the 14th of August, 1844; a copy 
of said resolution and said bond are here¬ 
to annexed as part of this report. 

Your committee further report that James 
A. Kelly, printer of the Convention, has 
failed to comply with the terms of his con¬ 
tract, in this, that he has not furnished the 
members of the Convention with ten copies 
each of his paper, called the Louisiana Re¬ 
porter, three times a week—and further, 
that he has not printed and published the 
reports of the debates of the Convention of 
Saturday 18th, and Monday 20th instant, 
though they were furnished to him (with 
the exception of a small portion of Mon¬ 
day’s debates,) on Monday, the 20th inst. 

Your committee therefore recommend 
the adoption of the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That James A. Kelly lie dis¬ 
missed from the appointment of printer to 
the Convention, and that the Convention do 




proceed forthwith to the election of another 
printer to the Convention, whose compen¬ 
sation shall be at the same rate as those 
heretofore awarded to said J. A. Kellv. 

V 

Resolved , That the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be instructed to adjust the 
accounts of said James A. Kelly for print- 





23 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana . 


ing done by him, and to report the same to 
the Convention. 

State of Louisiana, 

Parish of Feliciana . 

Know all men by these presents, that I, 

James A. Kelly, as principal, and- 

as security, do acknowledge ourselves to be 
jointly and severally indebted unto A. Mou- 
ton, governor ot the State of Louisiana, or 
his successors in office, in the sum of one 
thousand dollars, lawful money of the United 
States, the payment whereof, well and truly 
to be made unto the said governor, or his 
successors in office, we, and each of us, 
bind ourselves firmly, jointly and severally 
by these presents, dated this 14th day of 
August, 1844. 

The condition of the above bond is such 
that whereas, the Convention now sitting 
in the town of Jackson, to revise, alter, or 
amend the constitution of Louisiana, did on 
the 10th inst., by resolution, order the sub¬ 
scription to seven hundred and seventy-sev¬ 
en copies to the Louisiana Reporter, at the 
aggregate price of fifteen hundred dollars 
—to be furnished to the members of said 
Convention until the whole proceedings and 
debates thereof shall be published—and 
whereas the said Convention, by a resolu¬ 
tion adopted on the 12th inst., ordered that 
the sum of one thousand dollars be advanced 
to the said J. A. Kelly, (being the proprie¬ 
tor of said paper) on account of said sub¬ 
scription, on condition that he should give 
bond and security to the satisfaction of the 
president of the Convention for the faithful 
performance of his duties. 

Now, therefore, if the above bound J. A. 
Kelly shall well and truly perform his du¬ 
ties, and fulfil the engagements to publish 
in French and English, the journal and de¬ 
bates of the Convention, three times per 
week, and furnish each member thereof 
with ten copies of each number of said pa¬ 
per, in French and English, at the rate of 
three times per week, according to the true 
intent and meaning of said resolution, or in 
default thereof pay all such damages and 
costs as may be sustained by reason of said 
failure, and return unto the treasury of the 
State of Louisiana, the said sum of one 
thousand dollars.—Then this obligation to 
be null and void, or else remain in full force 
and virtue in law. 

(Signed) J. A. Kelly, 

Geo. Henderson. 



Witnesses. 


Horatio Davis, 

J as. Carpenter, 

Bond approved, Jackson, La., August 14, 
1844. (Signed) 


Joseph Walker, 
President of the Convention of the 

State of Louisiana. 

[Resolution adopted Aug. 10, 1844.] 

Resolved , That the journal and debates 
of the Convention be printed by the printer 
of the Convention in the form directed by 
the rules, in English and French, separate¬ 
ly, at least three times a week, and oftener 
if it be necessary to keep up with the pro¬ 
ceedings of the Convention, and that each 
member of the Convention be furnished 
with ten copies of the journals and debates 
for distribution among his constituents, each 
member to select copies in either language 
be amended by saying “ten copies of the 
paper,” instead of “the journals;” said 
amendment was adopted, and the resolution 
was adopted as amended. 

Mr. Garrett moved that the adoption 
of the report and resolutions be postponed 
until Thursday next, and called for the ayes 
and nays; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Chinn, Claiborne, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Lewis, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative, 
twenty-six ayes; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Legendre, Leonard, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies and Wikoff voted in the negative, 
thirty-seven nays; consequently the motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
the Convention first proceed to the adoption 
of report; his motion prevailed. He then 
called for the yeas and nays on the adoption 
of the report, and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Downs, Garcia, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Legendre, Leonard, Lew- 







24 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


is, McCailop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Wikoff 
voted for the adoption—forty-three yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Chinn, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
King, Ratliff, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry,and Wederstrandt voted against 
the adoption—eighteen nays; consequently 
the same was adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend the first res¬ 
olution bv inserting “two” printers, one to 
print in English and one to print in French. 

Mr. Beatty offered the following provi¬ 
so to the first resolution: 

“ Provided , That each of said gazettes so 
chosen, shall receive five hundred dollars 
only for ten copies of their paper, to be 
furnished to each member of the Conven¬ 
tion three times a week at least, during the 
sittings of the Convention. 

And the yeas and nays being called for 
on the amendment and proviso, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Carriere,Chambliss, Covillion,Downs, 
Eustis, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McCailop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff voted in the affirmative—thirty-eight 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies 
and Wadsworth voted in the negative— 
twenty-nine nays; the motion was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff moved that the whole mat¬ 
ter under consideration be laid on the table 
subject to call, and called for the yeas and 
nays; and 

Messrs. Barton, Chinn, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, 


Guion, King, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders. Scott of Madison, Taylor 
of St. Landry, and Wederstrandt voted in 
favor of the motion—eighteen yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Conrad of Orleans, Co¬ 
villion, Downs, Eustis, Grymes, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lew¬ 
is, McCailop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Ma¬ 
zureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Wikoff 
voted against the motion—forty-seven nays; 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of the 
first resolution as amended. 

Mr. Kenner moved for a division, that 
is, the Convention first proceed on the first 
part of the resolution dismissing the prin¬ 
ter, his motion prevailed; he then called foi 
the yeas and nays on the adoption of the 
first part of the first resolution, dismissing 
the printer, which resulted as follows: 

[Previous to the question being taken, 
Mr. King, with leave, read a certificate 
signed by six of the hands employed by Mr. 
Kelly, in the office of the Louisiana Re¬ 
porter.] 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Covillion, Downs, 
Eustis, Garcia, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCailop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mazureau, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor, 
of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Wikoff, voted in the affirmative— 
45 yeas; and 

Messrs. Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Chinn, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Grymes, Garrett., Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Madison, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and Winches¬ 
ter, voted in the negative—23 nays; the 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff offered the following resolu¬ 
tion: 

Resolved, That a committee of five be 




25 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


appointed by the president, whose duty it 
shall be to enquire and ascertain of the va¬ 
rious printing presses of this city, what will 
be the cost to furnish ten copies of their 
daily paper, containing the proceedings of 
the Convention, as fast as furnished them 
by the reporter, and that said committee be 
instructed to obtain the cost of printing, in 
book-form, well bound, the whole of the 
proceedings of this Convention, and all 
such other facts in relation to the printing 
of this Convention as to them may be 
deemed necessary, and report the result of 
their labors as early as practicable. 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question, and called for the yeas and nays. 
The president put the question, shall the 
previous question be put? And 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale , Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield , Cade, Carriere , Cham¬ 
bliss, Cenas, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Humble.Hynson,Legendre, 
Leonard, Me Callop, McRae, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau,0' > Bryan,Peets,Penn,Porter,Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Roman, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Voorhies , Waddill, Wadsworth 
and Wikoff, voted in the affirmative—49 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Burton, Chinn, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett,, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Lewis, Pugh , Ratliff, Rose- 
lius, St. Amand, Scott of Madison, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the negative—19 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the latter part 
of the first resolution, as amended, was 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the second 
resolution was adopted. 

Mr. Brent moved that the Convention 
proceed to the election of French Printer. 

Mr. Culbertson moved to amend the 
above resolution, “that the Convention 
proceed to the election of both of the prin¬ 
ters, the French and English, at the same 
time, which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
that the Convention proceed to the elec¬ 
tion of each printer separately, and his mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 


The Convention then proceeded to the 
election of the French printer. 

Seventy members present. 

Mr. Cenas nominated Jerome Bayon. 

Mr. Chinn nominated Mr. Magnc. 

On motion, the president appointed 
Messrs. Culbertson and Downs tellers. 

On counting the votes, it appeared that 
Jerome Bayon obtained 40 votes. 

Messrs. Magne & Weise, 29 

Blank, 1 

70 votes. 

Mr. Jerome Bayon having obtained 40 
votes, was proclaimed by the president 
duly elected printer in French to the Con¬ 
vention. 

On motion of Mr. Guion, the Convention 
proceeded to the election of the printer in 
English, and nominated Mr. McCardle. 

Mr. Read nominated Besangon, Fergu¬ 
son & Co. 

Seventy members present. 

The President appointed the same tel¬ 
lers. 


On counting the votes, it appeared that 
Messrs. Besangon, Fergu- 


son & Co. obtained, 

36 votes. 

M’Cardle, 

31 

Magne, 

1 

Blank, 

2 

70 votes. 


Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson Co., 
having obtained 36 votes, were proclaimed 
by the president duly elected printers in 
English to the Convention. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the yeas and nays were called for: 

Resolved, That the Convention now pro¬ 
ceed to elect an additional reporter in Eng¬ 
lish, to act with the present reporter, so as 
to ensure an easy publication of the pro¬ 
ceedings. 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brent, Cenas, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Humble, Ledoux, Lewis, Me 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Penn, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption and Voorhies voted 
in the affirmative—18 yeas; 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad, of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion , 
Culbertson, Derbes , Garcia, Garrett , 
Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner , King. 


4 





26 


Jmrnal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Legendre, Leonard, Marigny, Mazureau, 
O'Bryan, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, 'Prist, Waddill, Wed- 
erstrandt and Winchester, voting in the 
negative—46 nays, the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Guion, leave of ab¬ 
sence was granted to Mr. AVinder. 

The president submitted to the Conven¬ 
tion a letter from Mr. J. A. Kelly, asking 
for a copy of the proceedings of the Con¬ 
vention, relating to him, and the same was 
read. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock a. m. 

Note.— Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert on leave, Boudousquie, Labauve on 
leave, and Porche on leave. 


Tuesday, January 28, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Beadle opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer, 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, presented the fol¬ 
lowing resolution: 

“ Resolved, That the sum of seventy-six 
dollars and thirty-three cents be allowed 
Robert Perry, in full, for the transporting 
of the furniture of the Convention, at Jack- 
son, to the Mississippi river, after the ad¬ 
journment at that place, and for the bal- 
lance of his account for furnishing an awn¬ 
ing for the use of the Convention at Jack- 
son.” 

On motion of Mr. Saunders, the said 
resolution was adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 8 “In all elections for represen¬ 
tatives, every free white male citizen of the 
United States who, at the time being, hath 
attained the age of twenty-one years, and 
resided in the State two consecutive years 
next preceding the election, and the last 
year thereof in the parish in which he offers 
to vote, shall have the right of voting; elec¬ 
tors shall in-all cases except treason, felony, 
breach or surety of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at, or 
going to or returning from elections.” 

M r. Garrett moved to “strike” out from 


said eighth section,article second,the words 
“State tico years next preceding the election, 
and, the last year thereof in the Parish in 
which he offers to vote," and insert in lieu 
thereof the words “parish in which he offers 
to vote, one year next preceding the election." 

Mr. Guion moved a division, that is, the 
Convention first proceed to “strike out;” 
his motion prevailed for the division, and 
pending the discussion the Convention ad¬ 
journed till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert on leave, Labauve on leave, Porche 
on leave, and Winder on leave. 


Wednesday, January 29,1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Beatty opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Penn and Saunders 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 8. “In all elections for represen¬ 
tatives, every free white male citizen of the 
United States who, at the time being, hath 
attained the age of twenty-one years, and 
resided in the State two consecutive years, 
next preceeding the election, and the last 
year thereof in the parish in which he offers 
to vote, shall have the right of voting; elec¬ 
tors shall in all cases exceept treason, felony, 
breach or surety of the peace, be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at, or 
going to or returning from elections.” 

The Convention resumed the debate on 
the question to “strike out” from said eighth 
section, article second, the words “ State 
two years next preceding the election, and 
the last year thereof in the Parish in which 
he offers to vole." 

And pending the discussion the Conven¬ 
tion adjourned till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, 
a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert, Penn, Porche, Saunders and Winder, 
all absent on leave. 


Thursday, January 30, 1845. 
The Convention metpursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Scott of Baton 






27 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Rouge, leave of absence was granted to Mr. 
McCallop. 

The President submitted to the Con¬ 
vention a letter of invitation from Mr. M. 
M. Cohen, president of the People’s Ly¬ 
ceum, and the same, after being read, was 
accepted. 

Mr. Dunn moved that the invitation of 
the committee of the Public Schools of Mu¬ 
nicipality No. 2, be accepted; his motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Roselius moved that the Conven¬ 
tion attend, in a body, the examination of 
the said Public Schools, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant , Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve , 
Leonard, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, 
Preston, Ratliff, Roselius, Splane, Trist, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—27 ayes; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Derbes, Eustis, Grymes, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Lewis, McRae, O'Bry¬ 
an, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Wikoff and Winder 
voted in the negative—34 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was lost. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec, 8. In all elections for represen¬ 
tatives, every free white male citizen of 
the United States who, at the time being, 
hath attained the age of twenty-one years, 
and resided in the State two years next 
preceding the election, and the last year 
thereof in the parish in which he offers to 
vote, shall have the right of voting. Elec¬ 
tors shall in all cases, except treason, felo¬ 
ny, breach or surety of the peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, or going to, or returning from elections. 

The question under consideration was 
the motion to strike out the words “State 
two years, and the last year thereof in the 
parish in which he offers to vote.” 

And pending the discussion, 

Mr. Burton offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 


“In all elections for representatives, eve¬ 
ry free white male citizen of the United 
States, who, at the time being hath attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided in 
the parish or district in which he offers to 
vote, the last year next preceding the elec¬ 
tion, shall have the right of an elector.— 
Electors shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, going to, or returning from elections.” 

Mr. Kenner moved for the previous 
question. 

The President then put the question, 
shall the main question be now put; the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Carriere , Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazur eau,Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers , 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—42 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Chambliss, Downs , Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McRae, Mayo , O'Bryan , Peets, Porter , 
Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Splane, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
against the motion—24 nays; the motion 
was carried. 

On the motion to strike out the words 
“State two years, and the last year thereof 
in the parish in which he offers to vote,” 
the yeas and nays being called, resulted as 
follows : 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton , Cade, 
Chambliss, Downs, Eustis,Garrett, Humble. 
Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, McRae, Mayo , 
O'Bryan , Peels, Porter, Preston, Read, 
Sellers, Splane, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in favor of the motion—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Ce¬ 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve , 
Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazur eau, 



28 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Soule, Stephens , Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wi- 
koff, Winchester and Winder voted against 
the motion—44 nays; the same was lost. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following pro¬ 
viso to the said 8th section, of article 2d : 

Provided , that no person shall be per¬ 
mitted to vote who is of unsound mind, or 
who has been convicted of any felony or of 
any infamous crime ; and provided, also, 
that each citizen shall vote only in the 
parish in which he resides, and if he lives 
in the cities of New-Orleans and Lafay¬ 
ette, he shall vote only in the ward in 
which he resides. 

On motion the Convention adjourned, 
till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert, McCallop, Penn, Porche and Saun¬ 
ders ; all absent on leave. 


Friday, January 31, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Ranney opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Wederstrandt, leave 
of absence was granted Mr. Ratliff. 

Mr. Sellers obtained leave to change 
his vote given on yesterday on the previous 
question. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 
article second. 

Sec. 8. In all elections for representa¬ 
tives, every free white male citizen of the 
United States who, at the time being, hath 
attained the age of twenty-one years, and 
resided in the State two consecutive years 
next preceding the election, and the last 
year thereof in the parish in which he of¬ 
fers to vote, shall have the right of voting. 
Electors shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at, or going to, or returning from elections. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the above 8th 
section of article 2d was adopted. 

Mr. Roman offered the following addi¬ 
tional section, viz: 

“It shall be the duty of the general as¬ 
sembly to provide by law for the registra¬ 
tion, at least three months before every 
general election, of all the qualified voters 


of the State, in the several parishes in which 
they actually reside. No person shall be 
entitled to vote except in the parish of his 
residence, and if the parish is divided into 
election precincts or wards, in the election 
precinct or ward where he resides, and ex¬ 
cept his name shall have been recorded in 
the last registry made previous to the elec¬ 
tion.” 

On motion of Mr. Downs, said section 
was ordered to be printed and made the or¬ 
der of the day for Wednesday next. 

Mr. Claiborne offered the following as 
the 9th section, viz: 

Sec. 9. In all cases where persons of¬ 
fering to vote shall be naturalized citizens, 
the residence of two years in the State, re¬ 
quired by the preceding section, shall com¬ 
mence from or after the date of their na¬ 
turalization. 

On motion of Mr. Guion said section 
was ordered to be printed and made the or¬ 
der of the day for Wednesday next. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, submitted th 
following section, viz: 

“ Absence from the State shall interrupt 
the residence in the preceding section, un¬ 
less the person absenting himself shall be 
a house keeper, and his dwelling house 
shall be actively and exclusively occupied 
during his absence by his family, or some 
portion thereof.” 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
the same was ordered to be printed and 
laid on the table subject to call. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin the 4th sec¬ 
tion of article 2d, as reported by the com¬ 
mittee, was called up. 

article second. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male citizen of the United 
States, and hath not attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the State 
two years next preceding his election, and 
the last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen. 

On motion of Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, 
said 4th section of article 2d was laid on 
table, subject to call. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to add “until the 
right of suffrage be disposed of,” and his 
motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr, Scott of Feliciana, 
the 7th section of article 2d, as reported by 
the committee, was called up. 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 29 


ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY TIIE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 7. The house of representatives 
shall choose its speaker and other officers. 
On motion of Mr. Scott of Feliciana, 
said 7th section was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis the Convention 
took up the 6th section of article 2d, as 
reported by the committee. 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 6. Representations shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and be¬ 
yond that, if entitled to any more, in propor¬ 
tion to the population of each, ascertained 
and calculated according to the principle of 
representation adopted in the constitution of 
the United States. The first representa¬ 
tion under this constitution shall continue 
until after the next United States census in 
1850, and shall be as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines Members. 

shall have one member, 

The parish of St. Bernard, 

“ Orleans— 

First Municipality, 5 
Second do 4 

Third do 3 

That part of the parish of Orleans on 
the east bank of the river Missis- 


1 

1 


12 


sippi, 

The parish of Jefferson, 

“ St. Charles, 


a 


a 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 

44 

44 

44 


44 


St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 

Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East “ “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 
Pointe Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 


1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 


parish of St. Landry, 

4 

44 

Vermillion, 

1 

44 

Lafayette, 

1 

44 

Calcassieu, 

1 

44 

Avoyelles, 

2 

44 

Rapides, 

2 

44 

Natchitoches, 

2 

44 

Sabine, 

1 

44 

Caddo, 

1 

44 

De Soto, 

1 

44 

Ouachita, 

1 

44 

Morehouse, 

1 

44 

Union, 

1 

44 

Caldwell, 

1 

44 

Catahoula, 

1 

44 

Claiborne, 

1 

44 

Bossier, 

1 

Total, 

• 

72 


As soon as may be after the United 
States census of 1850 shall have been ta¬ 
ken and promulgated, and every ten years 
thereafter, the number of representatives 
shall be fixed and apportioned according to 
the principles of this section, so as not to 
be less than seventy nor more than one 
hundred, and whenever a new parish shall 
be created, a seperate representation shall 
at the same time be provided for it, which 
shall continue until the next decimal appor¬ 
tionment. 

Mr. Marigny moved to strike out and 
including the words, “the first, representa¬ 
tion under this constitution ,” to the end of 
the section. Pending the discussion on this 
motion, 

Mr. Benjamin moved to refer the said 
section 6th of article 2d, to a committee of 
twelve, composed of three members from 
each congressional district; and pending the 
discussion, 

Mr. Dunn moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next at 11 o’clock A. 
M., and the yeas and nays being called for, 
resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Bourg, Chinn, Downs, Dunn, 
Grymes, Garrett, Guion, Leonard, Mayo, 
Pugh, Read, St. Amand, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Yoor- 
hies and Waddill voted in favor of the ad¬ 
journment—17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, Carri- 
ere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Eustis, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 



30 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Ro- 
selius, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
against the adjournment—48 nays; the 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs then moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 11 o’clock A. 
M., and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Rourg, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Humble, 
Legendre, Leonard, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St.Landry,Preston,Prudhomme,Pugh, 
Read, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, We¬ 
derstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—42 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Brazeale, Briant, 
Derbes, Hudspeth, Hynson, King, Labauve, 
Lewis, Marigny, Peets, Roman, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry, and Winchester voted 
in the negative—15 nays; consequently 
the motion was carried. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert, McCallop, Penn, Porche, Ratliff and 
Saunders, all absent on leave. 


Saturday, February 1, 1845. 

Mr. Downs called the Convention to or¬ 
der at the hour appointed for the meeting 
at the last adjournment; he informed the 
Convention that the president, Mr. Walk¬ 
er, was very ill, and unable to attend. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, moved that 
Mr. Chinn be calleed to the chair, and 
that he preside throughout the day. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Messrs. Bourg, Waddill, Pugh and 
Guion. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn the chairman 
pro tempore was authorised to sign the 
warrants on the treasury of State for the 
pay of the members, &c. 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 6. “Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and beyond 
that, if entitled to any more, in proportion 
to the population of each, ascertained and 
calculated according to the principle of re¬ 
presentation adopted in the constitution of 
the United States. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution shall continue until after the next 
United States census, in 1850, and shall 
be as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines shall have 




u 


one member, 

The parish St. Bernard, 

“ Orleans, 

First Municipality 
Second 
Third 

The Parish of Orleans, on the east 
bank of the river Mississippi, 
The parish of Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 
St. James, 

Ascension, 
Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 

The parish of Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St, Mary, 

St. Martin, 

Vermillion, 
Layfayette, 

St. Landry, 

Caleassieu, 

Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 

Natchitoches, 


1 


a 






«( 


u 


u 


u 




<( 


<< 


(i 


n 


H 


a 


u 


a 


a 


<( 


u 


(( 


u 


u 


u 


a 


u 


<( 


a 


u 


a 


1 

1 


12 


1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
I 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

1 

2 
1 
1 

4 
1 
2 
2 
2 





31 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Parish of Sabine, 1 

“ Caddo, 1 

“ De Soto, 1 

“ Ouachita, 1 

“ Morehouse, 1 

“ Union, 1 

“ Caldwell, 1 

“ Catahoula, 1 

“ Claiborne, 1 

“ Bossier, 1 

Total, 72 


As soon as may be after the United States 
census of 1850 shall have been taken and 
promulgated, and every ten years thereaf¬ 
ter, the number of representatives shall be 
fixed and apportioned according to the prin¬ 
ciples of this section, so as not to be less 
than seventy, nor more than one hundred; 
and whenever a new parish shall be created 
a separate representation shall at the same 
time be provided for it, which shall con¬ 
tinue until the next decimal opportunity.” 

And pending the discussion on the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. Benjamin, to refer the said sec¬ 
tion to a special committee of twelve, com¬ 
posed of the members from each of the 
congressional districts, the Convention ad¬ 
journ till Monday next, at 11 o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg on leave, Kenner, Mc- 
Callop on leave, Penn on leave, Porche 
on leave, Pugh on leave, Ratliff on leave, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders on leave, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Waddill on 
leave, and Winchester. 


Monday, February 3,1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment; Mr. Chinn in the chair. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion'of Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Mr. Chinn was continued in the chair du¬ 
ring the illness of the president of the Con¬ 
vention. 

Mr. Brent offered the following resolu¬ 
tion: 

“ Resolved , That when the Convention 
adjourns to-day at the usual hour for dinner, 
that it shall adjourn to meet again at 7 
o’clock p. m.; and that until further action 
be had, it shall continue to meet at that 
hour every evening, except those evenings 
when the use of the hall has been reserved 
by the proprietor, according to the contract 
with the Convention.” 


The yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Garcia, 
Humble, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O' 1 Bryan, 
Peets, Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, Prud- 
homme, Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Trist, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt, voted in the af¬ 
firmative—32 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Brumfield, Ce - 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jef., Derbes,Dunn, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Ma- 
zureau, Porche , Prescott of St. Landry, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies 
and Winder voted in the negative—27 
nays; consequently the resolution was 
adopted. 

Mr. Read offered the following resolu¬ 
tion : 

“ Resolved, That an additional reporter 
be appointed to aid in reporting the pro¬ 
ceedings of the Convention in the English 
language.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend the above 
resolution, by adding that an “additional re¬ 
porter in French should be appointed.” 

Mr. Claiborne moved that the resolu¬ 
tion and amendment be laid on the table 
indefinitely, and called for the yeas and 
nays; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Cade, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, King, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Roman, St. Amand, Sellers, 
Soule, Taylor of St. Landry and Trist, 
voted in favor of the motion—30 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Downs, 
Dunn , Eusiis, Garcia, Humble, McCallop, 
McRea, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Read, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the ne¬ 
gative—32 nays; the motion was lost. 

Then the yeas and nays being called for 
on the amendment of Mr: Beatty to “appoint 






32 


Journal of the Contention of Louisiana . 


an additional reporter in French,” resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty, Benjamin, Brum, 
field, Burton, Cade , Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, CwZ- 
bertson, Derbes , Garcia, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Mazu. 
reau, Prescott of St. Landry, Roman, Ro- 
selius, St. Amand, Soule and Winchester 
voted in favor of the amendment; 26 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Grymes, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Leo- 
nr/rcZ, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, of 

Feliciana, of Madison, Sellers, Spiane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies,Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt and Winder, voted 
against the amendment—41 nays ; the same 
was lost. 

Then the yeas and nays were called for 
on the resolution of Mr. Read, to appoint 
an additional reporter in English, and re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas , Chambliss, Downs, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Humble, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Porter, Preston, Read, Rose- 
lius, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Spiane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Waddill, Wadsworth and Weder¬ 
strandt, voted in the affirmative—31 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brumfield, Cade, 
Carriere, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Garcia, Grymes, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, O'Bryan, Porche, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud 
homme, Roman, St. Amand, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—36 nays; 
the resolution was lost. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following reso¬ 
lution : 

Resolved , “That the office of reporter 
of the debates of this Convention be 
abolished.” 

Mr. Covillion moved that said resoliu 


tion be laid on the table, indefinitely, and 
called for yeas and nays, which resulted as 
follows : 

Messrs. Beatty, Brent, Brumfield, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Ledoux, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Soule, Spiane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wederstrandt and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Conrad ofNew Or¬ 
leans, Culbertson, Derbes, Kenner, King, 
Legendre, Mazureau, Porche, Prudhomme, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of 
Madison, Voorhies, Waddill, and Winder 
voted in the negative—22 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was carried. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and be¬ 
yond that, if entitled to any more, in pro¬ 
portion to the population of each, ascertain¬ 
ed and calculated according to the principle 
of representation, adopted in the constitu¬ 
tion of the United States. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution shall continue until after the next 
United States census in 1850, and shall be 
as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines 

shall have one member, 1 

The parish of St. Bernard, 1 

“ Orleans,— 

First Municipality, 5 i 

Second do, 4 > 12 

Third do, 3 y 

That part of the parish of Orleans on 
the east bank of the river Missis¬ 
sippi, 1 

The parish of Jefferson, 2 

“ St. Charles 1 

44 St. John the Baptiste, 1 

44 St. James, 2 

44 Ascension, 1 

44 Assumption, 2 

44 Lafourche Interior, 3 

44 Terrebonne, 1 





33 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The parish of Iberville, 1 


tt 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

tt 

East do do 

2 

a 

West Feliciana, 

2 

tt 

East do, 

St. Helena, 

2 

(4 

1 

a 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

1 

tt 

1 

n 

Point Coupee, 

1 

n 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Tensas, 

1 

tt 

Madison, 

1 

tt 

Carroll, 

1 

n 

Franklin, 

1 

a 

St. Mary, 

1 

tt 

St. Martin, 

2 

a 

Vermillion, 

1 

tt 

Lafayette, 

1 

tt 

St. Landry, 

4 

tt 

Calcassieu, 

l 

tt 

Avoyelles, 

2 

n 

Rapides, 

2 

tt 

Natchitoches, 

2 

n 

Sabine, 

I 

tt 

Caddo, 

1 

tt 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

1 

tt 

Morehouse, 

1 

a 

Union, 

1 

u 

Caldwell, 

I 

u 

Catahoula, 

1 

n 

Claiborne, 

1 

a 

Bossier, 

1 

Total, 


72 


As soon as may be after the United States 
census of 1850 shall have been taken and 
promulgated, and every ten years thereaf- 
tter, the number of representatives shall be 
fixed and apportioned according to the prin¬ 
ciples of this section, so as not to be less 
than seventy, nor more than one hundred; 
and whenever a new parish shall be cre¬ 
ated, a separate representation shall at the 
time be provided for it, which shall contin¬ 
ue until the next decimal apportionment. 

And pending the discussion on the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. Benjamin, to refer said sec¬ 
tion to a special committee, Mr. Beatty 
offered the following substitute, viz : 

Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State; each parish shall be en¬ 
titled to representation in proportion to her 
population, ascertained and calculated ac- 
coring to the principle of representation j 
5 


adopted in the Constitution of the United 
States. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the reception of the United 
States census for 1850, and every ten years 
thereafter, the legislature shall choose some 
number as a representative number. The 
number so chosen shall be taken as a divi¬ 
sor, and each parish shall be entitled to 
one representative for every time this divi¬ 
sor shall be found in the dividend formed of 
its representative population, and to one ad¬ 
ditional member for every fraction exceed¬ 
ing the one-half of the divisor. 

The house of representatives shall never 
be composed of less than seventy nor more 
than one hundred members. 

The first representation under this Con¬ 
stitution (ascertained as near as may be in 
accordance with the above principles) shall 
continue until ^after the next United States 
census, and shall be as follows : 

Plaquemine 1; St. Bernard 1; Orleans, 
First Municipality 9 ; Second do. 7 ; Third 
do. 6 ; Right Bank 1; Jefferson 2 ; St 
Charles 1; St. John the Baptiste 1; St 
James 2 ; Ascension 2 ; Assumption 2 ; La¬ 
fourche Interior 2; Terrebonne 1 ; Iber¬ 
ville 2 ; West Baton Rouge 1 ; East Baton 
Rouge 2 ; West Feliciana 2; East Feliciana 
2; St. Helena 1 ; Livingston 1 ; Washing¬ 
ton 1 ; St. Tammany 1 ; Point Coupee 1 ; 
Concordia 1; Tensas 1 ; Madison 1 ; Car- 
roll 1 ; Franklin 1; St. Mary 2; St. Martin 

2 ; Vermillion 1; Lafayette 2 ; St. Landry 

3 ; Calcassieu 1 ; Avoyelles 2 ; Rapides 3 ; 
Natchitoches 3 ; Sabine 1 ; Caddo 1; De 
Soto 1 ; Ouachita 1 ; Morehouse 1 ; Union 
1; Caldwell 1; Catahoula 1; Claiborne 1; 
Bossier 1. 

And pending the discussion on said sub¬ 
stitute, the Convention adjourned ’till 7 o’¬ 
clock p. m. 

Note—M embers absent, Messrs- Jos. 
Walker absent on account of illness, Bourg 
on leave, Boudousquie, Guion on leave, 
Penn on leave, Pugh on leave, and Ratliff 
on leave. 


Monday, February 3d, 1845, ) 

7 o’clock, P. M. $ 
The Convention met pursuant to adjourn^ 
ment. 

Mr. Wadsworth was called to the Chair. 
Mr. Benjamin moved to rescind the 
rule adopted this morning, fixing the eve- 







34 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ning sessions at 7 o’clock, P. M., and the 
yeas and nays being called, resulted as 
follows: ' 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Uerbes, Dunn, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Roman, Roselius, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—22 ayes; and 
Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Covillion, Downs, 
Eustis, Humble, Labauve, McRae, Marig- 
ny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Trist, Waddill, and Wed- 
erstrandt voted in the negative—35 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Voorhies moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, A. 
M.; the ayes and nays being called, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Roman, Roselius, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Winches¬ 
ter, and Winder voted in favor of the ad¬ 
journment—23 ayes; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad ofNew 
Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Hum¬ 
ble, Labauve, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles,Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt, 
and Wikoff voted against the motion for 
adjournment—35 nays; said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, A. M., 
and yeas and nays being called, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Roman, Rose¬ 
lius, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Win¬ 
chester, and Winder voted in favor of the 
motion—20 ayes ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton,' 


Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Humble, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott oi 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Trist, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff, voted 
against the motion—38 nays; which motion 
was lost. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and be¬ 
yond that, if entitled to any more, in propor¬ 
tion to the population of each, ascertained 
and calculated according to the principle of 
representation adopted in the constitution 
of the United States. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution shall continue until after the next 
United States census in 1850, and shall be 
as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines 
shall have one member, 

The parish of St. Bernard, 

“ Orleans,— 

First municipality, 

Second . do, 

Third do, 

That part of the parish of Orleans on 
the east bank of the river Missis¬ 
sippi, 1 

The parish of Jefferson, 2 

“ St. Charles, 1 

“ St. John the Baptist, 1 

“ St. James, 2 

“ Ascension, 1 

“ Assumption, 2 

“ Lafourche Interior, 3 

“ Terrebonne, 1 

“ Iberville, 1 

“ West Baton Rouge, 1 

“ East “ “ 2 

“ West Feliciana, 2 

“ East “ 2 

“ St. Helena, 1 

“ Livingston, 1 

“ Washington, 1 

“ St. Tammany, 1 

“ Point Coupee, 1 

“ Concordia, 1 




35 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish of Tensas, 1 


Li 

Madison, 

1 

a 

Carroll, 

1 

u 

Franklin, 

1 

u 

St. Mary, 

1 

a 

St. Martin, 

2 

u 

Vermillion, 

1 

u 

Lafayette, 

1 

a 

St. Landry, 

4 

u 

Calcassieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

2 

a 

Rapides, 

2 

a 

Natchitoches, 

2 

a 

Sabine, 

1 

a 

Caddo, 

1 

u 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

1 

a 

Morehouse, 

1 

a 

Union, 

1 

u 

Caldwell, 

1 

a 

Catahoula, 

1 

u 

Claiborne, 

1 

u 

Bossier, 

1 

Total, 


72 


As soon as may be, after the United 
States census of 1850 shall have been 
taken and promulgated, and every ten years 
thereafter, the number of representatives 
shall be fixed and apportioned according to 
the principles of this section, so as not to 
be less than seventy nor more than one 
hundred, and whenever a new parish shall 
be created, a separate representation shall 
at the same time be provided for it, which 
shall continue until the next decimal ap¬ 
portionment. 

The question under consideration was 
the motion of Mr. Benjamin, to refer the 
section to a special committee; and pending 
its discussion, 

Mr. Beatty offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, each parish shall 
be entitled to representation in proportion 
to her population, ascertained and calcula¬ 
ted according to the principle of represen¬ 
tation adopted in the constitution of the 
United States. 

At the first regular session of the Legis¬ 
lature after the reception of the United 
States census for 1850, and every ten 
years thereafter, the legislature shall choose 
some number as a representative number. 

The number so chosen shall be taken as 


a divisor, and each parish shall be entitled 
to one representative for every time this 
divisor shall be found in the dividend 
formed of its representative population, and 
to one additional member for every fraction 
exceeding the one-half of the divisor. 

The house of representatives shall never 
be composed of less than seventy, nor 
more than one hundred members. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution, (ascertained as near as may be in 
accordance with the above principles) shall 
continue until after the next U. S. census, 
and shall be as follows:—Plaquemine, 1; 
St. Bernard, 1; Orleans—First Municipali¬ 
ty, 9; 2d, 7; 3d,6; Jefferson, 2; Right bank, 
1, St. Charles, 1; St. John Baptist, 1; St. 
James, 2; Ascension, 2; Assumption, 2; 
Lafourche Interior, 2; Terrebonne, 1; Iber¬ 
ville, 2; West Baton Rouge, 1; East Baton 
Rouge, 2; West Feliciana, 2; East Felici¬ 
ana, 2; St.Helena, 1; Livingston, 1; Wash¬ 
ington, 1; St. Tammany, 1; Point Coupee, 
1; Concordia, 1; Tensas, 1; Madison, 1; 
Carroll, 1; Franklin, 1; St. Mary, 2; St. 
Martin, 2; Vermillion, 1; Lafayette, 2; St. 
Landry, 3; Calcassieu, 1; Avovelles, 2; 
Rapides, 3; Natchitoches., 3; Sabine, 1; 
Caddo, 1; De Soto, 1; Ouachita, 1; More¬ 
house, 1; Union, 1 ; Caldwell, 1; Cata¬ 
houla, 1; Claiborne, 1; Bossier, 1. 

On motion of Mr. Downs said substi¬ 
tute was ordered to be printed. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock, A. M. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Au- 
bert, Bourg, on leave; Brumfield, Chinn, 
Culbertson, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, on 
leave; Hynson, Leonard, M‘Callop, Penn, 
on leave; Porche, Pugh, Ratliff, on leave; 
St. Amand, Taylor of Assumption. 

Tuesday, February 4, 1845 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment; Mr. Ciiinn in the chair. 

The Rev. Mr.-opened the pro¬ 

ceedings by prayer. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and be¬ 
yond that, if entitled to any more, in propor¬ 
tion to the population of each, ascertained 








36 


Journal of the .Convention of Louisiana. 


and calculated according to the principle of 
representation adopted in the constitution of 
the United States. The first representa¬ 
tion under this constitution shall continue 
until after the next United States census in 
1850, and shall be as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines Members. 

shall have one member, 

The parish of St. Bernard, 

“ Orleans— 

First Municipality, 5 
Second do 4 

Third do 3 

That part of the parish of Orleans on 
the east bank of the river Missis- 


1 

1 


12 


sippi, 

The parish of Jefferson, 

“ St. Charles, 


a 


tt 


it 


tt 


ti 


it 


a 


tt 


a 


tt 


tt 


tt 


it 


a 


tt 


tt 


a 


a 


a 


tt 


ti 


a 


a 


a 


a 


u 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


ti 


a 


a 


St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 

Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East “ “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 
Pointe Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 

Calcassieu, 

Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 

Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 

Morehouse, 

Union, 

Caldwell, 

Catahoula, 


1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

2 
1 
1 

4 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
i. 
1 


The Parish of Claiborne, 

“ Bossier, I 

Total, 72 

As soon as may be after the United 
States census of 18*50 shall have been ta¬ 
ken and promulgated, and every ten years 
thereafter, the number of representatives 
shall be fixed and apportioned according to 
the principles of this section, so as not to 
be less than seventy nor more than one 
hundred, and whenever a new parish shall 
be created, a separate representation shall 
at the same time be provided for it, which 
shall continue until the next decimal appor¬ 
tionment. 

The yeas and nays being called for, on 
motion of Mr. Benjamin to refer said sec¬ 
tion to a committee of twelve, composed of 
three members from each Congressional 
district, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant,Brumfield, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Garcia, Grymes, Hudspeth, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Marigf- 
ny, Mazureau, Roman,Roselius, St. Amand, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth and Win¬ 
chester voted in favor of the motion—26 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Leonard, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston,Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winder voted against the mo¬ 
tion—-39 nays; consequently the same was 
lost. 

The question then under consideration, 
was the substitute of Mr. Beatty to said 
section, viz: 

Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State; each parish shall be en¬ 
titled to representation in proportion to her 
population, ascertained and calculated ac¬ 
cording to the principle of representation 
adopted in the constitution of the United 
States. 

At the first regular session of the legisla¬ 
ture after the reception of the United States 
census for 1850, and every ten years there- 




37 


Journal of tlie Convention of Louisiana . 


after, the legislature shall choose some 
number as a representative number. 

The number so chosen shall be taken as 
a divisor, and each parish shall be entitled 
to one representative for every time this di¬ 
visor shall be found in the dividend formed 
of its representative population, and to one 
additional member for every fraction ex¬ 
ceeding the one-half of the divisor. 

The house of representatives shall never 
be composed of less than seventy nor more 
than one hundred members. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution, (ascertained as near as may be in 
accordance with the above principle) shall 
continue until after the next United States 
census, and shall be as follows: 

Plaquemine, 1;* St. Bernard, 1; Orleans, 
first municipality, 9; second, 7; third, 6; 
right bank, 1; Jefferson, 2; St. Charles, 1; 
St. JohnBaptist, 1; St. James, 2; Ascen¬ 
sion, 2; Assumption, 2; Lafourche Interor,2; 
Terrebonne, 1; Iberville, 2; West Baton 
Rouge, 1; East Baton Rouge, 2; West Fe¬ 
liciana, 2; East Feliciana, 2; St. Helena, 1; 
Livingston, 1; Washington, 1; St. Tamma¬ 
ny, 1; Pointe Coupee, 1; Concordia, 1; 
Tensas, 1; Madison, 1; Carroll, 1; Frank¬ 
lin, 1 ; St. Mary, 2 ; St. Martin, 2; Vermil¬ 
lion, 1; Lafayette, 2; St. Landry, 3; Calcas- 
sieu, 1; Avoyelles, 2; Rapides, 3; Natchi¬ 
toches, 3; Sabine, 1; Caddo, 1; De Soto, 1; 
Ouachita, 1; Morehouse, 1; Union, 1; Cald¬ 
well, 1; Catahoula, 1; Bossier, 1. 

Mr. Sellers moved that the same be 
laid on the table, to make way for the origi¬ 
nal section as reported by the committee, 
and his motion prevailed. 

Mr. Preston then offered the following 
substitute to the first paragraph of said sec¬ 
tion, viz: 

Representation in the house of represen¬ 
tatives shall be equal and uniform in this 
State, and shall be forever regulated and 
ascertained by the number of qualified elec¬ 
tors therein. 

Mr. Downs moved that the same be laid 
on the table to make way for the original 
section, and called for the yeas and nays; 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Garcia, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Ken¬ 
ner Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St, 


Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Roman, Saup- 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison,Sellers, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder- 
strandt, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—-47 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans,Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Der- 
bes, Eustis, King, Ledoux, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, O’Bryan, Preston, Ratliff, Roselius, 
St. Amand and Stephens voted in the nega¬ 
tive—21 nays; the motion was consequent¬ 
ly carried. 

Mr. Benjamin then moved to strike out 
the words, u each parish shall have at least 
one representative ,” and called for the yeas 
and nays. 

Previous to the question being put, Mr. 
Porter offered the following resolution, viz: 

But no new parish shall be created until 
it has population enough to entitle it to a 
representative according to the ratio exist¬ 
ing at the time, or with a territory less than 
four hundred square miles. 

And pending the discussion, the Conven¬ 
tion adjourned till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, 

A. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Jo¬ 
seph Walker, president, absent on account 
of illness—Bourg, Guion, Penn and Pugh, 
all absent on leave. 


Wednesday, February 5, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment, Mr. Chinn in the chair. 

The Rev. Mr. Beatty opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 6. “Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State; each parish shall 
have at least one representative, and beyond 
that, if entitled to any more, in proportion 
to the population of each, ascertained and 
calculated according to the principle of re¬ 
presentation adopted in the constitution of 
the United States. 

The first representation under this con¬ 
stitution shall continue until after the next 
United States census, in 1850, and shall 
be as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines shall have 

one member, 1 





38 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish St. Bernard, 

“ Orleans, 

First Municipality 5 

Second “ 4 

Third “ 3 

The Parish of Orleans, on the east 

bank of the river Mississippi, 
The parish of Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 
St. James, 

Ascension, 
Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St, Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Layfayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcassieu. 

Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 

Morehouse, 

Union, 

Caldwell, 

Catahoula, 

Claiborne, 

Bossier, 


tt 

tt 

it 

tt 

a 

a 

a 

tt 

a 

a 

t. 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

i 

a 

a 

tt 

a 

a 

tt 

tt 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

tt 

tt 


a 

it 

a 


12 


1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 
1 

1 
1 

2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 

4 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 


Total, 72 

As soon as may be after the United States 
census of 1850 shall have been taken and 
promulgated, and every ten years thereaf¬ 
ter, the number of representatives shall be 
fixed and apportioned according to the prin¬ 


ciples of this section, so as not to be less 
than seventy, nor more than one hundred; 
and whenever a new parish shall be created 
a separate representation shall at the same 
time be provided for it, which shall con¬ 
tinue until the next decimal opportionment 

On motion of Mr. O’Bryan the addition¬ 
al sections that were made the order of the 
day, for to day, after the reading of the 
journal were laid on the table, subject to 
call. 

Mr. Guion moved that a committee of 
three members from each congressional dis¬ 
trict be appointed, with instructions to re¬ 
port wether it would not be just and proper 
to take, as a basis of representation, the en¬ 
tire property of the State, both real and per¬ 
sonal, subject to taxation,* together with all 
the white population thereof, who may be 
entitled to the elective franchise; the yeas 
and nays being called for resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Auburt, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Brumfield, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Ma¬ 
zur eau, Preston, Pugh, Homan, St. Amand, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wikojf, Winchester 
and Winder, voted in favor of the motion— 
27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty,Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff', Read, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted against 
the motion—44fnays; the same was lost. 

The Convention then took under con¬ 
sideration the motion of Mr. Benjamin to 
strike out the words “ each parish shall have 
at least one representative ,” from the said 
sixth section; and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie,Briant,Brumfield, Carriere, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Eustis, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 





39 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mazureau, Preston, Pugli, Ratliff, Roman, 
Roselius St. Amand, Saunders, Soule, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Me Callop, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porclie, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Waddill, and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative—32 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Saunders offered the following 
amendment, viz: 

“After the year 1846 the members of 
the house of representatives shall be elec¬ 
ted decimally, as follows: 

“Every parish containing 250 qualified 
voters may elect one representative, and in 
the same proportion for a number of quali¬ 
fied voters greater than 250. Provided, 
that no parish shall ever elect more than 
one sixth of the whole number of repre¬ 
sentatives. 

Parishes containing less than 250 quali¬ 
fied voters shall be united when they adjoin 
each other two or more together when neces¬ 
sary to complete the number of 250 quali¬ 
fied voters, and when so united shall be 
considered as one parish in all things re¬ 
specting the election of representatives ; 
and any such parish not adjoining one of 
the same class, shall be united to the ad¬ 
joining parish having the largest fraction 
over 2 50 qualified voters; and any two par 
ishes, so united, shall be considered as one 
parish in all things respecting the election 
of representatives.” 

Mr. Saunders then moved that the said 
amendment, together with section sixth, be 
referred to a special committee,composed of 
three members from each congressional dis¬ 
trict; and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau,Preston, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders , Stephens, 


Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—418 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porclie, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott, of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott, of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt, and Winder, voted in the nega¬ 
tive—34 nays ; consequently the motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff then moved that the Con¬ 
vention adjourn till this evening at 7 o’clock 
P. M.; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Read then offered the following 
amendment to the section sixth, to be sub¬ 
mitted to the special committee, viz: 

“Each parish containing one hundred 
qualified electors shall be entitled to one 
representative; five hundred qualified elec¬ 
tors, two representatives; one thousand 
qualified electors, three representatives; 
two thousand qualified electors, four rep¬ 
resentatives; four thousand qualified elec¬ 
tors, five representatives; eight thousand 
qualified electors, six representatives; six¬ 
teen thousand qualified electors, seven re¬ 
presentatives; thirty-two thousand qualified 
electors, eight representatives; and so on 
in regular progression, except in relation to 
the parish of Orleans, which shall be enti¬ 
tled to double the number it would have un¬ 
der the regular progression applicable to 
other parishes. 

In the year 1850, and every ten years 
thereafter, an apportionment of representa¬ 
tion shall be made as herein prescribed. 

The following shall be the representa¬ 
tion until the year 1850, viz: 

The parish of Plaquemines 2 

The parish of St. Bernard, 1 

44 Orleans, 10 

“ Jefferson, 2 

44 St. Charles 1 

44 St. John the Baptiste, 1 
44 St. James, 2 

44 Ascension, 2 

44 Assumption, 2 

44 Lafourche Interior, 2 

44 Terrebonne, 1 

44 Iberbille, 1 

44 West Baton Rouge, 1 




40 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The Parish of 


<< 

ti 

a 

a 

a 

tt 

tt 

a 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

it 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

i. 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

n 

a 

tt 


East Baton Rouge, 
East Feliciana, 
West Feliciana, 

St. Helena, 

Livingston, 

Washington, 

St. 'Tammany, 
Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcassieu, 
Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 

Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 

Morehouse, 

Union, 

Catahoula, 

Claiborne, 

Bossier, 


2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

3 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 


Total, 75 

No parish hereafter to be created shall 
contain less than five hundred and twenty- 
five square miles; nor shall any two or 
more parishes now existing, or which may 
hereafter exist, ever be consolidated so as 
include within the limits ef the intended 
parish more than five hundred and twenty- 
five square miles, and then only with the 
consent of the people interested therein.” 

Mr. Guion moved that the instructions 
offered by him, be also submitted to the 
special committee. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty it was order¬ 
ed that the committee take into considera¬ 
tion all the projects that had been offered; 
and 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
this evening at 7 o’clock, P. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Jos. 
Walker, president, on account of illness, 
Rourg and Penn absent on leave. 


Wednesday Evening, ) 
February 5, 1845. $ 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Marigny was called to the Chair. 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, the additional sections offered by 
Messrs. Roman, Claiborne, and Taylor of 
Assumption, and laid on the table subject 
to call, were made the special order of the 
day for to-morrow. 

On motion of Mr. Preston the Conven¬ 
tion took under consideration the 14th sec¬ 
tion of article 2d, as reported by the com¬ 
mittee, viz : 

Sec. 14. “Not less than a majority of the 
members of each house pf the general as¬ 
sembly shall form a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and shall be authorized by law' 
to compel the attendance of absent mem¬ 
bers, in such manner and under such pen 
alties as may be prescribed thereby;” and 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

On motion, the Convention then took up 
the 15th section, of article 2d, viz : 

Sec. 15. “Each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall judge of the qualifications, 
elections and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law.” 

And, on motion, the same was adopted. 

Then the Convention proceeded to the 
to the 16th section of article 2d, viz : 

Sec!. 16. “Each house of the general as¬ 
sembly may determine the rules of its pro¬ 
ceedings, punish a member for disorderly 
behavior, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member, but not the second 
time for the same offence.” 

On motion, the said session was adopted. 

The Convention then took up section 17, 
of article 2d, viz: 

Sec. 17. “Each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings, and the yeas and 
nays of the members on any question shall 
at the desire of any two of them, be enter¬ 
ed on the journal.” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

The Convention then took up the section 
18th, of article 2d, viz: 

Sec. 18 . “Each house may punish by im¬ 
prisonment, during the session, any person 
not a member, for disrespectful and disor¬ 
derly behavior in its presence, or for ob- 





41 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiatia. 


structing any of its proceedings: 'provided , 
such imprisonment shall not at any one time 
exceed ten days.” 

Mr. Downs moved to strike out the words 
“during the session ” from said section; his 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Beatty moved to strike out the 
words “at any one time” and insert the 
words “for any one offence .” His motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Ratliff moved for the rejection of 
the section as amended, and called for the 
yeas and nays, which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Carriere, Kenner, Ratliff, Soule, 
Splane, Trist, and Wederstrandt, voted in 
the affirmative—7 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—54 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, said section 
18th, was adopted as amended. 

The Convention then took up the 19th 
section of article 2d, viz : 

Sec. 19. “Neither house during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place than 
that in which they may be sitting.” 

And, on motion, the same was adopted. 

The Convention then took up the 20th 
section of article 2d, viz: 

Sec. 20. “The members of the general 
assembly shall severally receive from the 
public treasury a compensation for their 
services, which shall be four dollars per 
day during their attendance on, going to, 
and returning from the sessions of their re¬ 
spective houses, provided mat the same 
may be increased or diminished by law; but 
no alteration shall take effect during the 
period of service of the members of the 
house of representatives by whom such al¬ 
teration shall have been made: And pro- 
6 


vided, also , that this compensation shall 
exist for the period of sixty days only, but if 
the general assembly shall at any time ex¬ 
tend the session beyond sixty days, they 
shall not receive any compensation for any 
period beyond the said sixty days.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend the proviso, 
by inserting the word “the” instead of 
“this,” and insert after the word compen¬ 
sation “for attendance” His motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. McRae moved to strike out the pro¬ 
viso, and called for ayes and nays. 

And previous to the question being put, 
Mr. Read offered the following substitute, 
viz: 

“And provided also, that this compensa¬ 
tion shall exist for the period of sixty days, 
only, but if the general assembly shall at 
any time extend the session beyond sixty 
days, they shall receive but one half the 
foregoing compensation for any period be¬ 
yond the said sixty days. 

And pending the discussion the Con¬ 
vention adjourned until tomorrow, at 11 
o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent—Messrs. Jo¬ 
seph Walker, President, absent on account 
of sickness; Boudousquie, Bourg, on leave; 
Garcia, Grymes, Leonard, McCallop, Penn, 
on leave; St. Amand and Wikoff. 


Thursday, February, 6, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Woolridge opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

The President appointed Messrs. Saun¬ 
ders, Wm. B. Scott, and Ratliff from third 
district, Downs, Porter, Lewis from fourth, 
Wadsworth, Benjamin, Grymes from first; 
and Preston, Roman and Beaty from the 
second, members of the committee to whom 
was referred the 6th section of article 
2nd. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

^ Sec. 9. In all cases where persons of¬ 
fering to vote shall be naturalized citizens 
the residence of two years in the State, re¬ 
quired by the preceding section, shall com¬ 
mence from or after the date of their na¬ 
turalization. 

Mr. Guion offered the following as a 
substitute"to the 9th section; 

“No person shall have the right of voting 





42 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


in this State, until lie shall have been two 


55 


years a citizen of the United States. 

Mr. Downs offered the following proviso 
to the substitute, viz: “Provided that this 
section shall not be construed so as to dis¬ 
franchise any person already entitled to 


55 


vote. 

And on the adoption of the substitute, as 
amended by the proviso, the yeas and nays 
being called for resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Auberl, Beatty , Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield , Burton, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Grymes , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre ,, Lewis,Mazureau,Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St.<> 
Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wile off, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative — 42 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carricre, 
Chambliss, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, Me Callop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, (ABryan, Peets, Por- 
che, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
of Feliciana, S'cott of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Waddill and WetZer- 
strandt voted in the negative— 32 nays; 
consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Voorhies moved to rescind the rule 
fixing the evening sessions at 7 o’clock, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Auberl, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Grymes, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Kenner, King, Labayve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard, McCallop, Mazureau, P or die, 
Prescott of St.Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Wederslrandl, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in favor of the 
motion—42 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Cade, 
Carricre, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Eustis , Humble, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston , Pugh, Read , Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, 


Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Trist, 
Waddill, Wadsworth and Wikoff voted 
against the motion—31 nays; the same was 
carried. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Jos. 
Walker, president, absent on account of 
illness, and Penn on leave. 


Scott of Feliciana, 


Friday, February 7th, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Saunders, chairman 
of the committee to whom was referred the 
6th section of article 2d, it was ordered 
that the said committee be authorised to 
have printed all documents in relation to 
said section 6th, and which may facilitate 
them in the discharge of their duties. 

Leave was granted Mr. Penn to have his 
vote recorded in the negative on the vote 
given yesterday on the adoption of the 9th 
section as amended. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, chairman of 
the committee on contingent expenses, the 
following resolution was adopted, viz: 

“Resolved, that the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be authorized to pay to J. 
Bayon, editor of the Courier, and to Be- 
sangon, Ferguson & Co., editors of the 
Jeffersonian Republican, each the sum of 
five hundred dollars, being in advance for 
ten copies of their respective papers to be 
furnished the Convention during its session, 
as per resolution of this Convention adopt¬ 
ed on the 27tli January, 1845.” 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10 . It shall be the duty of the gen¬ 
eral assembly to provide by law for the re¬ 
gistration, at least three months before 
every general election, of all the qualified 
voters of the State, in the several parishes 
in which they actually reside. No person 
shall be entitled to vote except in the par¬ 
ish of his residence, and if the parish is di¬ 
vided into election precincts or wards, in 
the election precinct or ward where he re¬ 
sides; and except his name shall have been 
recorded in the last registry made previous 
to the election. 

Mr. Downs moved to strike out from said 
section the words, “ It shall be the duty of 
the general assembly to provide by law for 






45 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


the registration, at ieast three months before 
every general election, of all the qualified 
voters of the State, in the several parishes 
in which they actually reside.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, offered 
the following amendment, viz: 

“It shall be the duty of the general as¬ 
sembly to provide by law for the registra¬ 
tion, at least three months before the gen¬ 
eral election, of all the qualified voters re¬ 
siding in the several cities and incorporated 
towns having a white population exceeding 
one thousand persons.” 

Mr. Sellers offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz: 

“Residence in a parish, city or town en¬ 
titled to representation, can only be acqui¬ 
red by personal residence during the time 
specified, to commence by a declaration 
filed by the person wishing to acquire it, 
in the office of the clerk of some court of 
record for such parish, and the commence¬ 
ment of such residence shall only date from 
such declaration; nor shall any proof other 
than such record of declaration be received, 
50 prove the commencement of such resi¬ 
dence.” 

Mr. Brent then moved for the previous 
question. 

Mr. Ratliff moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next, at 11 o’clock, a, 
m., and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas , Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Alazureau, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Trist, Wadsworth and Win¬ 
chester voted in favor of the motion—27 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazcale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Covillion, Derbes, Downs, 
Eustis , Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, King, Leonard, Lewis, At Call op, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St- 
Landry, Preston, Prndhomme, Pugh, St. 
Amand, Scott. of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, We- 
derstrandt and Wikoff, voted against the mo¬ 
tion—44 nays; the same was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Jefferson, then moved 
that the Convention adjourn till to-morrow j 


at 11 o’clock, a. m., and the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Rose¬ 
lius, Si. Amand, Trist, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazcale, Brent, Briant, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Covillon, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, 
Garrett, Humble, Iiynson, Ledoux, Ale Gal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, Penn, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prndhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, ScCttt of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddill and TVedersirandt vo¬ 
ted in the negative—39 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent then renewed his motion for 
the previous question. The president then 
put the question, “Shall the main question 
be now put?” and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazealc, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Conrad .of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, Humble, Hyn- 
son , Ledoux, Leonard, Lewis, AIcCallop, 
AtcRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O'Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Prndhomme, Read, Roman, St. Am ant , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of.Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Wederslrandt, Wikoff, and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—54 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Conrad, of New Orleans, Clai¬ 
borne, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, Sellers, 
and Voorhies, votedin the negative; 17 nays 
—the motion was carried. 

On the motion of Mr. Voorhies to ad¬ 
journ till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m., 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 






44 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ant, Burton, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covil¬ 
lion , Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion , Hudspeth, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, and JJm- 
chester voted in favor of the motion—32 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale,Brent, Brumfield, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Downs, Humble , iJv/yz- 
5 ‘Oft, Ledoux , Me Callop, McRae, Mayo, 
O'Bryan, Peels,Penn, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, $co£Z of Feliciana, 
of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, 
and Wederstrandt voted against the motion 
—35 nays; the motion was therefore lost. 

On the call being made upon the presi¬ 
dent as to what question was the main 
question, the president decided that there 
having been no motion made to adopt or re¬ 
ject the section wilder debate, and the first 
motion made being to strike out a portion 
of the section, that that motion was the pre¬ 
vious or main question. 

Mr. Lewis appealed from the decision 
of the chair, and called for the yeas and 
nays, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, Hum¬ 
ble, Hytison, Ledoux, Leonard, McCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Penn,Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhom¬ 
me, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Waddill, and Wederstrandt voted 
to sustain the decision of the chair— 40 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Burton, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Sellers, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, and Winchester voted 
against the decision of the chair— 27 nays; 
consequently the decision was sustained. 

The yeas and nays being then called on 
Mr. Downs’ motion to strike out the words 
“It shall be the duty of the general assem¬ 


bly to provide by law for the registration, 
at least three months before every general 
election, of all the qualified voters of the 
State, in the several parishes in which 
they actually reside,” resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dozens, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, McCallop, McRae,Marigny,Mayo, 
O'Bryan, Peets, Penn,Porche, Porter,Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Read-, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill and We¬ 
derstrandt, voted in the affirmative—44 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Briant, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, King , Labauve, 
Leonard, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roman , Roselius, St. Amand, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff, and Winchester, voted in the nega¬ 
tive '—21 nays; so the motion was carried. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 


Saturday, February 8 , 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. ** 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the chairman 
of the Convention, (Mr. Saunders) was au¬ 
thorized to sign warrants on the treasury of 
the State. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the secretary 
was directed to give to the printers to the 
Convention a certified copy of the resolution 
adopted yesterday, allowing to each the 
sum of $500. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing report and resolution, viz: 

“ The committee on contingent expenses, 
to whom was referred the business of set¬ 
tling and adjusting the account of James A, 
Kelly, late printer to the Convention, beg 
leave to report, that they have had the ac¬ 
counts of Mr. Kelly under consideration, 
and after deducting several items in said 
accounts, marked C. D. A. B. E. F. G. 
and H., amounting to $874, find a balance 
due to said James A. Kelly, of $1474, (four¬ 
teen hundred and seventy-four dollars,)—all 





45 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


of which is respectfully submitted with the 
following resolution, viz: 

(Signed) CYRUS RATLIFF, 

Chairman.” 

“Resolved, That the sum of $1474, (four¬ 
teen hundred and seventy-four dollars,) be 
allowed James A. Kelly, late printer to the 
Convention, in full for all extra printing for 
the Convention, and also for all other ex¬ 
penses attendant upon his removal from 
Jackson to New Orleans.” 

Mr. Brent moved that the report and 
resolution be laid on the table subject to 
call, which motion was lost. 

Mr. Ratliff then moved for the adoption 
of the report and resolution. The yeas and 
nays being called for— 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, King, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRea, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of ^St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wi- 
koff and Winder voted in the affirmative— 
54 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, Covil- 
lion, Hynson, Peets, Penn and Porche 
voted in the negative—8 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, leave of ab¬ 
sence was granted Messrs. Chinn, and 
Scott of Baton Rouge. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sect. 10. No person shall be entitled 
to vote except in the parish of his residence, 
and if the parish is divided into election pre¬ 
cincts or wards, in the precinct or ward 
where he resides, and except his name shall 
have been recorded in the last registry 
made previous to the election. 

Mr. Cade moved to strike out after the 
words “ of his residence,” the balance of 
the section. 

Mr. Roman moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “vote” the words 
“ at any elections held in this State,” and 
his motion prevailed. 

Mr. Benjamin moved for a division of 


the motion to strike out, that is the Conven¬ 
tion first proceed to strike out from the 
words, “ and it the parish is divided,” to 
the words “ward where he resides.” >His 
motion prevailed. 

The ayes and nays being called for on 
the motion to strike out, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum- 
fied, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff', 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane,Stephens,Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in favor of the motion—3G ayes; and 

Messrs.Aubert,Beatty, Benjamin, Briant, 
Claiborne, Conrad ofNew Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Eustis, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Leonard, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Sellers, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Wikoff and Winder voted 
against the motion—25 nays;* consequently 
the same was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis then moved to strike out the 
balance of said section, that is from the 
words “ and except ” to the last word 
“election.” His motion was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad ofNew Orleans, then moved 
the additional amendment to the section as 
amended, viz : “ and in cities or towns di¬ 
vided into two election precincts, by the 
election precinct where he resides,” and the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows : 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
King, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Ro¬ 
selius, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor¬ 
hies, Wikoff and Winder voted in favor of 
the amendment—36 ayes; and 
Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Downs, Humble, Hynson, Le¬ 
doux, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff', Read, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 




46 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


against the amendment—27 nays; conse¬ 
quently the same was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

“Sect. 10. No person shall be entitled 
to vote at any election in this State, except 
in the parish of his residence* and in cities 
or towns divided into election precincts, in 
the election precinct in which lie resides;” 
and the yeas and nays being called for— 
Messrs, Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King,Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Penn, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott ofFeliciana, Sellers, Stephens,Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor- 
hies, Wikoff and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—37 ayes; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Downs, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Madison, Splane, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative— 
24 nays; consequently the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Sellers renewed the resolution of¬ 
fered by him on yesterday, and moved that 
the same be printed and laid on the table, 
subject to call, which motion prevailed— 
which is as follows, viz : 

“Residence in a parish, city or town, en¬ 
titled to representation, can only be ac¬ 
quired by personal residence during the 
time specified, to commence by a declara¬ 
tion filed by the person wishing to acquire 
it, in the office of the clerk of some court of 
record for such parish, and the commence¬ 
ment of such residence shall only date from 
such declaration; nor shall any proof other 
than such record of declaration be received, 
to prove the commencement of such resi¬ 
dence. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the secretary 
was directed to give to Mr. J. A. Kelly, late 
printer to the Convention, a certified copy 
of the resolution adopted to-day, allowing to 
said Kelly the sum of fourteen hundred and 
seventy-four dollars, (#1474.) 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
Monday next, at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent'—Messrs. Jo¬ 


seph Walker, President, absent on account 
of illness; Messrs. Boudousquie, Garcia, 
Grymes, Kenner, St. Amand, Trist, Win¬ 
chester; and Messrs. Chinn, and Scfltt of 
Baton Rouge, absent on leave. 

Monday, February 10, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. The Hon. Joseph Walker, presi¬ 
dent, in the chair. 

The Rev. Mr. Woolridge opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Splane the following 
resolution was adopted: 

“ Resolved , That a committee of three be 
appointed, whose duty it shall be to report 
to this Convention the causes which ope¬ 
rate against the daily report of the debates 
of this body; and further, to report upon the 
necessity of appointing one or more ad¬ 
ditional reporters.” 

The president appointed Messrs. Splane, 
Conrad of New Orleans, and Scott of Madi¬ 
son, members of said committee. • 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 
ARTICLE second, as reported by the 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 20. The members of the general 
assembly shall severallyreceive from the pub¬ 
lic treasury a compensation for their servi¬ 
ces, which shall be four dollars per day 
during their attendance on, going to, and 
returning from the sessions of their respec¬ 
tive houses, provided that the same may be 
increased or diminished by law; but no al¬ 
teration shall take effect during the period 
of service of the members of the house of 
representatives by whom such alterations 
shall have been made: and provided also, 
that this compensation shall exist for the 
period of sixty days only, but if the general 
assembly shall at any time extend the ses¬ 
sion beyond sixty days, they shall not re¬ 
ceive any compensation for any period be¬ 
yond the said sixty da}-s. 

Mr. Read, with leave, withdrew the pro¬ 
viso offered by him on Wednesday evening 
last, and submitted the following substitute, 
viz: 

“Provided also, that no session shall ex¬ 
tend to a period beyond sixty days, to date 
from its commencement.” 

Mr. Brent offered the following amend¬ 
ment, which was accepted by Mr. Read: 

“Except the session of the first legisla- 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


ture which is to convene after the adoption 
of this constitution.” 

Mr. Downs offered to amend said substi¬ 
tute by adding the words, “and unless, also, 
the session be protracted on a request 
by the governor, or by a vote of two-thirds 
of the members of the legislature.” 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, moved to 
strike out the latter part of the amendment, 
the words “or by a vote of two-thirds ofthe 
members of the legislature.” 

His motion was adopted. 

And the yeas and nays being called for 
on the adoption of the amendment of Mr. 
Downs, as amended, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Burton, Cade, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, Mayo, Preston, Pugh, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Taylor of St. Landry, and Wikoff 
voted in the affirmative—11 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert,Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson,Culbertson,Derbes,Grymes, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, King, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Raton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, We- 
derstrandt and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—51 nays; the motion was consequent¬ 
ly lost. 

Mr. Read moved to adopt the proviso as 
amended, and called for the yeas and nays. 

Mr. Beatty moved for a division, that 
the Convention first proceed to adopt the 
first paragraph of said proviso, and his mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being then called for 
on the adoption of the first paragraph, re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, Grymes, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 


4J 

Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—50 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Briant, Burton, 
Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, King, McRae, 
Mayo, Porter, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Waddill and Wikoff voted in 
the negative—18 nays; the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Beatty then offered to amend the 
said proviso by adding after the word “com¬ 
mencement,” the words “and that any le¬ 
gislative action had after the expiration of 
the said sixty days, shall be null and void.” 

Mr. Covillion moved to lay the amend¬ 
ment on the table indefinitely, and called 
for the yeas and nays; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Burton, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Gar¬ 
cia, Humble, Hynson Mayo, Penn, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winches¬ 
ter voted in favor of the motion—24 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bri¬ 
ant, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Grymes, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wi¬ 
koff and Winder voted in the negative—47 
nays; the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty the amend¬ 
ment was adopted. 

Mr. Marigny offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved , That the mileage of the mem¬ 
bers of both houses of the general assem¬ 
bly shall be so calculated as |iiever to ex¬ 
ceed forty dollars for going to, and return¬ 
ing from the seat of government. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty the said 
amendment was laid on the table inde¬ 
finitely. 

Mr. Mayo moved to strike out from said 
section, in the 5th line, the words “going to 
and returning from,” and insert in the 6th 
line, after the word “houses,” the words 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


V 

“and ten cents per mile for travelling to, 
and returning from the place where the 
sessions of the legislature may be held.” 

Mr. Beatty moved that said amend¬ 
ment be laid on the table indefinitely, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
B riant, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, 
Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Peets, Penn, Porter, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wikoff, Winchester'and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Eustis, Garrett, Kenner, Labauve, 
Leonard, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Porche, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Ratliff, St. Amand, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Soule, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative—28 
nays; the motion was carried. 

Mr. Beatty then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

Sec. 20. The members of the general 
assembly shall severally receive from the 
public treasury a compensation for their 
services, which shall be four dollars per 
day, during attendance on, going to and re¬ 
turning from the sessions of their respec¬ 
tive houses, provided that the same shall be 
increased or diminished by law; but no al¬ 
teration shall take effect during the period 
of service of the members of the house of 
representatives by whom such alteration 
shall have been made: and provided, 
also, that no session shall extend to a pe¬ 
riod of beyond sixty days, to date from its 
commencement; and that any legislative ac¬ 
tion had after the expiration of the said six¬ 
ty days, shall be null and void, except the 
session of the first legislature which is to 
convene after the adoption of this constitu¬ 
tion. 

The yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Le¬ 


gendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Marig¬ 
ny, Peets Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—58 yeas; and 

Messrs. Burton, Covillion, McRae, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Preston, Ratliff and Waddill voted 
against the motion—8 nays; and conse¬ 
quently the same was carried. 

On motion the Convention took under 
consideration section 21st, viz: 

Sec. 21. The members of the general as¬ 
sembly shall, in all cases except treason,felo¬ 
ny, breach or surety of the peace, be privi¬ 
leged from arrest during their attendance 
at the sessions of their respective houses, 
and going to and returning from the same; 
and for any speech or debate in either 
house, they shall not be questioned in any 
other place. 

The same was adopted. 

Then the Convention proceeded to sec¬ 
tion 22d, viz: 

Sec. 22. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created, or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during the time 
such senator or representative was in office, 
except to such offices or appointments as 
may be filled by the elections of the people. 

The same was adopted. 

The Convention next took up the 23d 
section, viz: 

Sec. 23. No person while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest, or teacher of any religious persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly, or to any office of profit 
or trust, under this State. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis said section 
was laid on the table, subject to call. 

The Convention then took up the 24th 
section, viz: 

Sec. 24. No person who at any time 
may have been a collector of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money, shall be eligible to the gen- 
j eral assembly, or to any other office of 



49 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


profit or trust under the State government, 
until he shall have obtained a quietus for 
the amount of such collection, and for all 
public moneys with which he may have 
been entrusted. 

.The said section was adopted. 

The Convention then took up the 25th 
section, viz: 

Sec. 25. No bill shall have the force of a 
law until, on three several days, it be read 
over in each house of the general assem¬ 
bly, and free discussion allowed thereon, 
unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the 
house where the bill shall be depending 
may deem it expedient to dispense with 
this rule. 

The section was adopted. 

The Convention proceeded to the con¬ 
sideration of the 26th section, viz: 

Sec. 26. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives, but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments as in other bills; provided, that they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment which may not 
relate to raising a revenue. 

The section was adopted. 

Then the Convention took up the 27th 
section, viz: 

Sec. 27. The general assembly shall 
regulate by law, by whom and in what 
manner writs of election shall be issued to 
fill vacancies which may happen in either 
branch thereof. 

On motion* said section was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, gave no¬ 
tice that he would move the re-considera¬ 
tion of the vote given on the 8th section, for 
the purpose of offering the following amend¬ 
ment, viz: 

“And shall, during said year, have paid, 
or become liable to pay a state tax to the 
amount of one dollar; or who, or whose 
father or mother shall during said year have 
been a housekeeper or head of a family, or 
paid rent to the amount of dollars.” 

Mr. Conrad then moved that the same 
be printed; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Garrett offered the following re¬ 
solution, viz: 

“Resolved, that the committee of revision 
be instructed to add a proviso to the 8th 
section of the 2d article, to the effect that 
the provision in the 8th section ot this ar¬ 
ticle, requiring a residence ot two years in 
this state before any person shall be a qual- 
7 


ilied elector, shall not be so construed as to 
deprive any person of the right of voting 
who is entitled to that right under the con- 
stitution of 1812, at the time of the adop¬ 
tion of this constitution.” 

On motion, the same was referred to tho 
committee of revision. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, called up 
the 11th section, viz: 

Sec. 11 . Absence from the State shall 
interrupt the residence required in the pre¬ 
ceding section, unless the person absenting 
himself shall be a housekeeper, and his 
dwelling shall be actually and exclusively 
occupied during his absence by his f .mily 
or some portion thereof. 

To which he offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

“Absence from the State for more than 
sixty days shall interrupt the residence ac¬ 
quired in the preceding section, unless the 
person absenting himself shall be .a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on some business or mechanical 
pursuit, and his dwelling house or the ten¬ 
ement for carrying on his business, or me¬ 
chanical pursuit, shall be actually and ex¬ 
clusively occupied during his absence by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by some one employed by him 
in business or mechanical pursuit*” 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, the said substitute was laid on the 
table subject to call, and ordered to be 
printed. 

Mr. Scott of Feliciana, moved that the 
Convention take under consideration the 
9th section of article 2d. 

And previous to the reading of the same, 
the Convention adjourned till to-morrow at 
11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Bou- 
dousquie and Wadsworth. 

Tuesday^, February 11, 1845. 

The convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Scott opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Article 2d, as reported by the commit¬ 
tee. 

Sec. 9. “The members of the Senate 
shall be chosen for the term of four years, 
and when assembled, shall have the power 
to choose its officers every two years.” 





50 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


On motion of Mr. Scott of Feliciana, 
said section was adopted. 

The 10th section was then called up, of 
article 2d, and pending the reading of the 
same, Mr. Taylor, of Assumption, moved 
that it be laid on the table, subject to call, 
and his motion prevailed. 

The Convention took under consideration 
section 11th. Pending the reading of it, 
Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved that 
the said section and all others in relation to 
the same subject, be laid on the table, sub¬ 
ject to call; his motion was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the con¬ 
vention then took under consideration the 
4th section of article 2d, as reported by the 
committee, viz: 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a represent¬ 
ative who, at the time of his election, is not 
a free white male citizen of the United 
States, and hath not attained the age of 
twenty-^ie years, and resided in the State 
two years next preceding his election, and 
the last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen. 

To which Mr. Chinn offered the follow¬ 
ing amendment, viz: “And shall hold and 
possess in his own name, landed property 
to the value of at least five hundred dol¬ 
lars.” 

Mr. Voorhies moved to reject said 
amendment, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Barton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Cou- 
villion, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Ken¬ 
ner, King, LaBauve, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff, 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—52 
ayes. 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Conrad of New Or- 
leans, Culbertson, Derbes, Legendre, Lew¬ 
is, Pugh, Roman, and St. Amand voted in 
the negative—nays 13. The motion was 
carried. 

A call being made upon the President 


to declare whether the section reported by 
the committee, or that section as amended 
at previous sittings, was the sec tion under 
consideration. 

The President decided that the section as 
amended was before the convention. 

Mr. Downs appealed from the decision 
of the chair, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Couvillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner, King, LaBauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff, and Winder, voted in favor 
of the decision of the chair—41 ayes. 

Messrs. Brent, Burton, Cade, Car- 
rieie, Downs, Eustis, Humble, Le- 
doux, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Marig¬ 
ny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Trist, Waddill, and 
Wederstrandt voted against the decision of 
the chair—31 nays, consequently the de¬ 
cision was sustained. 

Mr. Guion moved to strike out the word 
“four” and insert in lieu thereof, the word 
“three.” 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
the convention first proceed to strike out, 
which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Prescott of St. Landry, offered 
the following substitute, viz : 

Section 4. “All persons enjoying the 
right of suffrage under this constitution, 
shall be eligible to a seat in the House of 
Representatives.” 

The President decided the substitute was 
inadmissible, because the division of a 
question was then pending before the con¬ 
vention, and could be received only after 
the decision of the two branches of the 
question by the convention. 

Mr. Downs moved to lay on the table, 
indefinitely, the motion to strike out,which 
motion was lost. 

The yeas and nays being then called 







Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


51 


for, on the motion of Mr. Guion, to strike 
out the word “four” resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Beets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Batoli Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Trist, Waddill, 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative- 
44 ayes. 

Messrs. Beatty, Brumfield, Burton, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, C'ou- 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, 
Grymes, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, La- 
Bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
and Winder voted in the negative—29 
nays. The motion was adopted. 

Mr. Guion then moved that the blank 
be filled with the word “three” and the 
ayes and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Ce¬ 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Couvillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia,Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, LaBauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 

• Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
and Winder voted in favor of the motion— 
38 ayes. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo,O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sou¬ 
le, Splane, Stephens, Trist, Waddill, and 
Wederstrandt voted against the motion- 
35 nays, consequently the same was adop¬ 
ted, 

Mr. Prescott of St. Landry, then re¬ 
newed the substitute offered by him and 
decided by the chair to be out of order, 


viz : Sec. 4. “All persons enjoying the 
right of suffrage under this constitution, 
shall be eligible to a seat in the House of 
Representatives.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved 
that the same be laid on the table indefinite, 
ly, and called for the yeas and nays: 

Yeas— Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benja¬ 
min, Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Barton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of NewOrleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillion,Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Grymes,,Guion, Hudspeth, Ken¬ 
ner, King, LaBauve, Legendre, Lewis, Ma¬ 
zureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
38 ayes. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres- 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sou¬ 
le, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Waddill, and Wederstrandt vo¬ 
ted in the negative—36 nays. The motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to strike out all of the 
4th section of article 2d, as amended, and 
the yeas and nays being called for: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Downs, Eustis, Hum¬ 
ble, Ilynson, Ledoux, Leonard, McCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyel¬ 
les, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Sou¬ 
le, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Waddill, and Wederstrandt vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—36 ayes. 

Meusrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Couvillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hud¬ 
speth, Kenner, King, LaBauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester, and 





52 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Winder voted against the motion—40 nays, 
consequently the same was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne offered the following 
substitute, viz: “No person shall be a rep¬ 
resentative who, at the time of his election, 
has not been for three years a free white 
male citizen of the United States, and hath 
not attained the age of twenty one years, 
and resided in the State for the three years 
next preceding the election, and the last 
year theieof in the parish for which he may 
be chosen.” 

And the ayes and nays being called for: 

Messrs* Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Genas, Chinn', Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Couviilion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hduspeth, Ken¬ 
ner, King, LaBauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Ro- 
selius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Taylor of St. Landry, Yoorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, and Winchester voted 
in favor of the adoption—38 ayes. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Downs, Garcia, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, McCaliop, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyel¬ 
les, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, and Winder voted in the negative- 
35 nays, consequently the substitute was 
adopted. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the conven¬ 
tion take under consideration the 1st sec¬ 
tion of article 3d, as reported by the ma¬ 
jority, viz: 

Article 3d as reported by the majority. 
Section 1st: “The supreme executive pow¬ 
er of this State, shall be vested' in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the govern¬ 
or of the state of Louisiana. He shall hold 
his office during the term of four years, and 
together with the lieutenant governor, cho¬ 
sen for the same term, be elected as fol¬ 
lows.” 

On motion said section was adopted. 

The convention then proceeded to the 
consideration of section 2d of said article 
3d, viz: 

Section 2d. “The citizens entitled to 
vote for representatives, shall vote for a 


governor and lieutenant governor, at the 
time and place of voting for representatives; 
their votes shall be returned by the officers 
presiding over the election, to the seat of 
government,addressed to the speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and on the sec¬ 
ond day of the session of the general as¬ 
sembly then next to be holden, the members 
of the general assembly shall meet in the 
house of representatives, to examine and 
count the votes. The person having the 
greatest number of votes for governor, shall 
be declared duly elected, if such number be 
a majority of all the votes given, but if no 
person have such a majority, then from the 
two persons having the highest numbers 
on the list of those voted for as governor, 
the general assembly shall choose imme¬ 
diately by ballot the governor. The per¬ 
son having a majority of the votes given for 
lieutenant governor, shall be the lieuten¬ 
ant governor, and if no person have a ma¬ 
jority, then from the two persons having 
the highest numbers on the list, the general 
assembly shall in the same manner, choose 
the lieutenant governor. 

Mr. Ledoux moved as a substitute to the 
foregoing section, the 2d section of the mi¬ 
nority, report, viz, by Mr. Ledoux: 

Section 2d. The governor shall be elec¬ 
ted by the qualified electors of the State, 
at the same time and place where they shall 
respectively vote for representatives and 
senators. The returns of every election 
shall be sealed up, and transmitted to the 
Secretary of State, who shall deliver them 
to the speaker of the house of representa¬ 
tives, who shall open and publish them in 
the presence of both houses of the general * 
assembly; the person having the highest 
number of votes shall be governor; but if 
two or more shall be equal and highest in 
votes, one of them shall be chosen governor 
by the joint vote of the members of the 
general assembly. Contested elections 
for governor shall be determined by both 
houses of the legislature, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out from the 
section reported by the majority, from the 
words “elected” in the 19th line, to the 
word “governor” in the 24th line. 

Mr. Soule proposed to amend the sec¬ 
tion reported by Mr. Ledoux, of the mi¬ 
nority, by adding the words “and lieuten- 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


53 


ant governor,” after the word “governor” 
in the first line. 

And pending the discussion, the Con¬ 
vention adjourned till to-morrow at 11 
o’clock, a. m. 


Wednesday, February 12,1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Hinton opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, leave of ab¬ 
sence was granted Mr. Scott of Feliciana. 

Mr. Splane, chairman of the committee 
appointed to inquire into the causes why 
the official proceedings of the Convention 
were not regularly published in the papers, 
submitted the following report and resolu¬ 
tion, viz: 

“The committee appointed to inquire 
into the causes why the official proceedings 
of the Convention were not regularly pub¬ 
lished in the papers, beg leave to report, 
that they have fully investigated the facts 
in relation to the delay in said publications, 
and find that our Reporter in English is 
not sufficient to complete the work daily 
allotted to him. Therefore, be it 'Resolved, 
that this Convention do now proceed to the 
election of one additional reporter in Eng- 
ish.” 

Mr. Splane moved the adoption of the 
report and resolution, and the ayes and nays 
being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, B ur- 
ton , Cade , Cenas, Chambliss , Dozens, Dunn, 
JEustis, Humble, Ledoux, Me Gallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Beets, Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor ofSt. Landry, 
Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the affirmative—33 yeas; and 

Messrs.— Auburt, Beatty, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Chinn, Claiborne , Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Penn, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand , Sellers, Voorhies, Wilcoff and 
Winder voted in the negative—32 nays; 

And Mr. Labauve in the chair voted in 
the minority v made the division equal, con¬ 
sequently the motion was lost. 


Mr. Voorhies having voted with the 
majority, moved the reconsideration of his 
vote; which motion was allowed. 

Mr. Beatty then moved that the report 
and resolution be laid on the table and made 
the special order of the day, for to-day at 
two o’clock; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revision, submitted the following report, 
viz: 

“The committee of revision report the 
first and second sections of the first 
article of the constitution of Louisiana.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, offered 
the following resolution, viz: 

“Resolved, That the committee on re¬ 
vision be instructed to report the constitu¬ 
tion article by article, and that the same be 
printed under the direction of the commit¬ 
tee, in such manner as to exhibit clearly the 
alterations and corrections made bv them.” 

On motion, said resolution was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, submitted 
the following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

“Resolved, that Thursday of each week, 
after the report of the committee of revision 
has been made and printed, be set aside for 
the examination of said report.” 

Mr. Kenner moved to strike out the 
word “Thursday,” and insert in lieu there¬ 
of, the word “Saturday;” which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Beatty gave notice that he would 
on Friday next move the reconsideration of 
the 5th section of article 2d. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 
ARTICLE third as reported by the 
majority. 

Sec. 2d. The citizens entitled to vote 
for representatives shall vote for a governor 
and lieutenant governor, at the time and 
place of voting for representatives. Their 
votes shall be returned by the officers pre¬ 
siding over the election to the seat of gov¬ 
ernment, addressed to the speaker of the 
house of representatives, and on the second 
day of the session of the general assembly 
then next to be holden. The members of 
the general assembly shall meet in the house 
of representatives to examine and count the 
votes. The person having the greatest 
number of votes for governor, shall be de¬ 
clared duly elected, if such number be a 
majority of all the votes given; but if no 
person have such a majority, then from the 




54 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


two persons having the highest numbers on 
the list of those voted for as governor, the 
general assembly shall choose immediately 
by ballot the governor. The person hav¬ 
ing a majority of the votes given for lieute¬ 
nant governor, shall be the lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor; and if no person have a majority, 
then from the two persons having the high- 
. est numbers on the list, the general assem¬ 
bly shall, in the same manner, choose the 
lieutenant governor. 

Mr. Ledoux offered as a substitute for 
said section, the 2d section of article 3d of 
the report of the minority, reported by Mr. 
Ledoux, viz: 

Sec. 2d. The governor shall be elected 
by the qualified electors of the State, at the 
same time and place where they shall re¬ 
spectively vote for representatives and sena¬ 
tors. The returns of every election shall 
be sealed up, and transmitted to the secre¬ 
tary of state, who shall deliver them to the 
speaker of the house of representatives, 
who shall open and publish them in pre¬ 
sence of both houses of the general assem¬ 
bly. The person having the highest num¬ 
ber of votes shall be governor; but if 
two or more shall be equal and highest in 
votes, one of them shall be chosen gover¬ 
nor by the joint vote of the members of 
the general assembly. 

Contested elections for governor shall be 
determined by both houses of the legisla¬ 
ture in such manner as shall be prescribed 
by law. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend the 2d sec¬ 
tion of the report of the majority by strik¬ 
ing out in the 19th line, the words “if such 
number be a majority of all the the votes 
.** given; but if no person have such a majori¬ 
ty, then from the two persons having the 
highest numbers on the list of those voted 
for as governor, the general assembly shall 
choose immediately by ballot, the gover¬ 
nor.” 

Mr. Mayo offered the following amend¬ 
ment to the 2d section of the report of the 
minority, as reported by Mr. Ledoux, viz: 

Sec. 2d. '1 he citizens entitled to vote 
for representatives shall vote for a governor 
and lieutenant governor, at the time and 
place of voting for representatives. The 
returns of every election shall be sealed up 
and transmitted to the secretary of state, 
who shall deliver them to the speaker of 
the house of representatives, and during 


the first week of the session of the general 
assembly then next to be holden, the mem¬ 
bers of the general assembly shall meet in 
the house of representatives to examine the 
returns of the election. The person hav¬ 
ing the highest number of votes for gover¬ 
nor, shall be governor; but if two or more 
shall be equal and highest in votes for gov¬ 
ernor, one of them shall be chosen gover¬ 
nor by the joint vote of the members of the 
general assembly. 

The person having the highest number 
of votes for lieutenant governor, shall be 
lieutenant governor; but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in votes 
for lieutenant governor, one of them shall 
be chosen lieutenant governor by the joint 
vote of the members of the general assem¬ 
bly. 

Mr, Chinn moved that the substitutes 
and amendments be laid on the table, and 
called for the ayes and nays; which result¬ 
ed as follows, viz: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin , 
Boudousquie, Bourg, B riant, Brum- 
Held, Cade, Cenas , Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Guioti , 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme , Pugh , 
Ratliff, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Land- 
ry, Trist, Voorhies, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—43 yeas ; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent, Burton , 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs , 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, Marig- 
ny, Mayo, O’ Bryan, Peels, Porclie, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Taylor of 
Assumption, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative— 24 nays ; conse- 
quently the motion was adopted. 

* Mr. Mayo, then offered the following 
amendment, to be inserted after the last word 
“representatives,” in the first paragraph. 
“The returns of every election shall be 
sealed up and transmitted to the secretary 
of state, who shall deliver them to the 
speaker of the house of representatives; and 
during the first week of the session of the 
general assembly, then next to be holden, 
the members of the general assembly shall 
meet in the house of representatives to ex- 






55 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


amine the returns of the election. The per- 
son having the highest number of votes for 
governor, shall be governor; but if two or 
more shall be equal and highest in votes 
for governor, one of them shall be chosen 
governor by the joint vote of the members 
of the general assembly. 

“The person having the highest number 
of votes for lieutenant governor shall be 
lieutenant governor; but if two or more per¬ 
sons shall be equal and highest in votes for 
lieutenant governor, one of them shall be 
chosen lieutenant governor by the joint 
vote of the members of the general assem¬ 
bly.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out from the 
nineteenth line the words, “if such number 
be a majority of all the votes given; but if 
no person have such a majority,then from the 
two persons having the highest numbers on 
the list of those voted for as .governor, the 
general Assembly shall choose immediately 
by ballot, the governor,” and insert in lieu 
thereof the words,“but iftwo or more persons 
sons shall be equal and highest in the num- 
of votes polled for governor, one of them 
shall be immediately chosen governor by 
joint vote of the members of the general 
assembly.” 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is 
that the Convention first proceed to “strike 
out,” to which Mr. Lewis accorded, and 
pending the discussion, Mr. Beatty called 
the attention of the Convention to the order 
of the day, it|being the hour appointed for it. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The committee appointed to enquire into 
the causes why the official proceedings of 
the Convention are not regularly published 
in the paper, beg leave to report that they 
have fully investigated the facts in relation 
to the delay in said publications, and find 
that one reporter in English is not sufficient 
to complete work daily allotted to him; 
therefore, be it resolved, that the Conven¬ 
tion do now proceed to the election of one 
additional reporter in English. 

And the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Downs, Dunn , Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Land¬ 
ry, Preston , Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 


Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill 'and We- 
derstrandt voted in the affirmative — -34 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant., Brumfield, Car- 
Here, Chinn , Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion 
Culbertson, Derbes, Garcia, Garret, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St.Amand, 
Sellers, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—34 nays; the vole being 
equally divided, the president voted in the 
affirmative; the report and resolution was 
consequenty adopted. 

Mr. Voorhies offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

“ Resolved , That this Convention shall 
meet every day, the 22d of February and 
Sundays excepted, at 11 o’clock a. m., and 
at 6 o’clock p. m., for the disposal of busi¬ 
ness, and any member who shall fail to at¬ 
tend at a morning or evening session shall 
be considered an absentee for that day, and 
not entitled to his per diem." 

And the question being called for on the 
adoption of the above resolution, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Covillion, Downs, Humble, McRae, Marig- 
ny, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Madison, Voor¬ 
hies and Waddill voted in the affirmative— 
19 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bon- 
douisquie, Bourg,Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—49 nays; 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Voorhies then offered the follow¬ 
ing resolution, viz: 

“j Resolved, That this Convention shall 
meet every day, the 22d February and Sun¬ 
days excepted, at 10 o’clock a. in., for the 
disposal of business.” 




56 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Mayo moved to reject said resolu¬ 
tion, and called for the yeas and nays, and 

Messrs, Boudousquie, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Kenner, Labauve, Legendre,Leonard,Mayo, 
Mazureau, O' 1 Bryan, Porche, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—18 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, CoinZ- 
Zion, Downs, Dunn, Garcia , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, 
Lewis, Me Call op, McRae, Marigny, Beets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St Landry, Preston, Pugh, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt and Winder voted in the negative— 
50 nays; and the motion was lost. 

Mr. Dunn then moved that the Conven¬ 
tion proceed to the election of an additional 
English reporter. 

Sixty-nine members present. 

Mr. Wadsworth nominated Mr. Cor¬ 
coran. 

Mr. Splane nominated Mr. Ilsley. 

The President appointed Messrs. Wads¬ 
worth and Culbertson tellers. 


And on counting the votes it 

appeared 

that Mr. Corcoran had obtained 

30 votes. 

Mr. Ilsley, 

37 « 

Blank, 

2 “ 

Total, 

69 


Mr. Ilsley having obtained thirty-seven 
votes, was proclaimed by the president as 
being duly elected reporter in English to 
the Convention. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 10 o’clock A. M. 

Note. —Members absent, Mr. Scott of 
Feliciana, on leave. 


Thursday, February 13, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the President called upon the Hon. del¬ 
egate from Sabine, (Mr. Stephens) who 
opened the proceedings by a most fervent 
prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 


ed to Messrs. Sellers and Winder, on 
account of illness. 

Mr. Voorhies submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

“ Resolved, that the members of this Con¬ 
vention who shall fail to attend or answer 
to their names when called by the secreta¬ 
ry, at 10 o’clock, a. m., pursuant to the re¬ 
solution heretofore adopted, shall be con¬ 
sidered as absentees, and as such forfeit 
their per diem.” 

Which motion was lost, 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS REPORTED BY THE MA 

JORITY. 

Sec. “The citizens entitled to vote for 
representatives, shall vote for a governor 
and lieutenant governor, at the time and 
place of voting for representatives; their 
votes shall be returned by the officers pre- 
siding over the election, to the seat of gov¬ 
ernment, addressed to the speaker of the 
house of representatives, and on the second 
day of the session of the general assembly 
then next to be holden, the members of the 
general assembly shall meet in the house 
of representatives, to examine and count 
the vetes. The person having the greatest 
number of votes for governor shall be de¬ 
clared duly elected, if such number be a 
majority of all the votes given; but if no 
person have such a majority, then from the 
jwo persons having the highest numbers 
on the list of those voted for as governor, 
the general assembly shall choose imme¬ 
diately, by ballot, tho governor. The per¬ 
son having a majority of the votes given 
for lieutenant governor, shall be the lieu¬ 
tenant governor; and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two persons having 
the highest numbers on the list, the general 
assembly shall, in the same manner, choose 
the lieutenant governor.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out, commencing in the 19th 
line, the words: “If such number be a ma¬ 
jority of all the votes given; but if no per¬ 
son have such a majority, then from the 
two persons having the highest numbers on 
the list of those voted for as governor, the 
general assembly shall choose immediate¬ 
ly, by ballot, the governor,” and insert in 
lieu thereof the words “but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in the 
number of votes polled for governor, one of 
them shall be immediately chosen governor; 




/ he foil wring Statement, is to follow the. 12th section of the report of the committee to whom teas referred the 6th section of article 2d, as reported by the majority, in the proceedings of the VAth of February, 1845; and to face page 56. 

STATEMENT, BY SUB COMMITTEE, 

_ _ SHOWING the representation of the several parishes, on the various principles submitted to them. 


PARISHES. 


Ascension - 
Assumption - 
Avoyelles - - 

Baton Rouge, E. 
Baton Rouge, W. 
Bernard, St. 
Bossier - 
Caddo ... 
Calcassieu - - 

Caldwell - - 

Carroll - - - 

Catahoula - -. 

Charles, St. - - 

| Claiborne 
Concordia . 

De Soto - 
Feliciana, E. 
Feliciana, W. - 
Franklin - 
Helena., St. - - 

Iberville - - - 

James, St. - 
Jefferson - - 

John Baptist, St. 
Lafourche Interior 
Lafayette 
Landry, St. - 
Livingston - - 

Madison - 
Martin, St. - 
Mary, St. 
Morehouse - 
Natchitoches 
Orleans - - - 

1st Municipality 
2d Municipality 
3d Municipality 
West Bank - 
Ouachita - - 

Plaquemines 
Pointe Coupee 
Rapides - - 

Sabine - 
Tammany, St. 
Tensas - 
'Terrebonne - 
Union - - 

Vermilion 
Washington - 


WHITES. 

Free 

persons of 
color. 

.Slaves. 

Federal 

numbers. 

Total 

population. 

Reps. No. 
1746. 

Reps. No. 
3222. 

Reps. No. 
490. 

Reps. No. 
3676. 

Voters at 
Presidential 
election 
in 1844. 

Federal 
population, 
by census of 
U. S. and 
Tax Roll of 
1843. 

Reps. No. 
276. 

Reps. No, 

. 3630. 

: 

Males. 

Total 

White 

population. 

Reps, on 
basis of 
White 
population. 

Reps, on 
basis of 
Federal 
population. 

Reps, on 
basis of 
Voters. 

Reps, on 
basis of 
Total 

population. 

Reps, on 
basis 

of votes of 
1844. 

Reps, on 
basis of 
Federal Nos 
by Tax Roll 
of 1843. 

Under 20 
years. 

Over 20 
years. 

604 

605 

2,255 

143 

4,553 

5,129 

6,951 

1 *509 

2—1907 

1 *115 

2— 3275 

503 

5,478 

2—227 

2—1842 




1,261 

888 

4,103 

66 

2,988 

5,961 

71157 

2 *611 

2—2739 

2—398 

2—3481 

569 

6,105 

2 *17 

2—2479 




984 

696 

3,066 

68 

3,472 

5,217 

61.606 

2—1320 

2—1995 

1 *206 

2—2930 

553 

5,436 

2 *1 

1 *1809 




964 

1,131 

3,75u 

182 

4,206 

6,455 

8,138 

2 *258 

2 *11 

2 *251 

2 *786 

724 

6,678 

3—172 

2—3042 




390 

375 

1,371 

120 

3,147 

3,379 

4638 

1—1371 

1 *157 

1—375 

1 *952 

313 

h,786 

1 *37 

1 *150 




264 

356 

1,035 

65 

2,137 

2,382 

3.237 

1—1035 

1—2382 

1—356 

1—3237 

269 

2,012 

1—269 

1—2012 








* 



1 

1 

1 

1 

162 


1—162 

1 




687 

731 

2,416 

29 

2,837 

• 4,147 

5,282 

1 *670 

1 *925 

1 *241 

1 *1604 

365 

4,136 

1 *89 

1 *500 

Representation of First Congressional District. 



405 

306 

1,349 

226 

482 

1,864 

2,057 

1—1356 

1—1864 

1—306 

1—2057 


1,913 

I 

1—1913 




412 

321 

1,356 

14 

649 

1,759 

2,019 

1—1349 

1—1759 

1—321 

1—2019 

263 

1,818 

1—263 

1—1818 

1. On basis of white population is, .... 

m 

26 

303 

301 

1,146 

9 

3,082 

3,004 

•4,237 

1—1146 

1—3004 

1—361 

1 *561 

411 

h,367 

1 *135 

1 *31 

2. On basis of federal No. per census of 1840, is 

m 

24 

836 

772 

2,935 

oo 

•0/0 

1,958 

4,131 

4,915 

2—1189 

1 *909 

2—282 

1 *1239 

547 

h,957 

2—271 

1 *321 

3. On basis of votes per “ “ . . 

- 

34 

228 

245 

874 

104 

3,722 

3,211 

4,700 

1—874 

1—3211 

1—245 

1 *1024 

138 

h,225 

1—138 

1—3225 

4. On basis of total population, .... 

• 

23 

1,159 

960 

3,846 

44 

2,295 

5,267 

6,185 

2 *344 

2—2045 

2—450 

2—2509 

571 

4,827 

2 *19 

1 *1191 

5. On basis of votes at presidential election of 1844, - 

. 

16 

287 

592 

1,380 

31 

8,003 

6,212 

9,414 

1—1380 

2—2990 

1 *102 

2—2062 

283 

4,60 

1 *7 

1 *965 

6. On basis of federal pop. per tax roll of 1843, with 2d district, 

38 








1 

1 

1 

1 

202 


1—202 

1 




1,081 

1,153 

3,992 

30 

7,831 

8,720 

11,853 

2 *500 

3—2276 

2 *173 

3 *825 

748 

8,727 

3—196 

2 *1455 




481 

697 

2,064 

91 

8,755 

7,408 

10,910 

1 *218 

2 *964 

1 *207 

3—3558 

551 

7,27 

2—275 

2—3635 

Of the Second Congressional District, 










1 

1 

1 

1 

292 


1 *16 

1 




620 

426 

1,945 

7 

1,573 

2,895 

3,525 

1 *199 

1—2895 

1—426 

1—3525 

376 

2,870 

1 *100 

1—2870 

1- On basis of white population is, - 


23 

620 

733 

2,523 

85 

5,887 

6,140 

8,495 

1 *777 

2—2918 

1 *243 

2 *1143 

488 

6,496 

2—212 

2—2860 

2. On basis of federal No. per census of 1840, is 


20 

769 

664 

2,762 

75 

5,711 

6,265 

8,548 

2—916 

2—3043 

1 *174 

2*1196 

532 

6,286 

2—256 

2—2650 

3. On basis of voters per “ “ 


26 

1,216 

1,907 

4,866 

618 

4,986 

8,475 

10,470 

3—1374 

3—2031 

4—437 

3—3128 

837 

7,862 

3 *9 

2 *590 

4. On basis of total population, .... 


22 

623 

485 

2,141 

191 

3,444 

4,398 

5,776 

1 *395 

1 *1176 

1—485 

2—2100 

255 

4,431 

1—255 

l *795 

5. On basis of votes at presidential election of 1844, - 


25 

1,221 

851 

3,986 

71 

3,246 

6,004 

7,303 

2 *494 

2—2782 

2—361 

2—3627 

608 

6,109 

2 *56 

2—2463 

6. See under First District, .... - 


00 

1,422 

948 

4,474 

134 

3,233 

6,547 

7,841 

3—982 

2 *103 

2—458 

2*489 

592 

6,775 

*2 *40 

2—3139 




2,189 

1,639 

7,179 

925 

7,129 

12,381 

15,233 

4 1*195 

4—2715 

3 *169 

4*529 

1365 

12,809 

5—261 

4—1901 




474 

375 

1,533 

43 

689 

1,989 

2,265 

-1—1533 

1—1989 

1—375 

1—2265 

329 

1,957 

1 *53 

1—1957 

Of Third Congressional District. 



290 

465 

1,210 

9 

3,923 

3,572 

5,142 

1—1210 

1 *350 

1—465 

1 *1466 

404 

4,054 

1 *128 

1 *428 




1,092 

863 

3,549 

484 

4,641 

6,817 

8,674 

2 *57 

1 *373 

2—370 

2 *1322 

782 

7,178 

3—230 

2—3542 

1. On basis of white population, is, - 


21 

641 

627 

2,366 

298 

6,286 

6,435 

8,950 

1 *620 

2—3213 

1 *137 

2 *1598 

494 

6,798 

2—218 

2—3162 

2. On basis of federal No. per census of 1840, is, ^ 


25 








1 

1 

1 

1 

138 


1—138 

1 

3. On basis of voters per “ “ - - 


19 

1,988 

1,975 

7,042 

657 

6,651 

11,689 

14,350 

4 *58 

4—2023 

4*5 

4—3322 

1102 

11,571 

4—274 

3 *663 

4i On basis of total population, is, 


26 

11,532 

23,371 

59,519 

19,226 

23,450 

92,815 

102,195 

34 *155 

29—2599 

47 *341 

28—2943 

5638 

83,559 

20 *118 

23—3567 

5. On basis of votes at presidential election of 1844, 


25 

5,877 

10,862 

27,904 

8,766 

11,461 

43,546 

48,131 

16—1714 

14—1660 

22 *82 

13*343 

2121 


8—189 


6. On basis of federal pop. per tax roll of 1843, 


21 

2,296 

6,857 

15,062 

1,491 

4,470 

19,235 

21,023 

9—1094 

6—3125 

14—487 

6—2643 

2723 


10—239 





2,991 

4,922 

14,652 

8,704 

5,812 

26,843 

29,168 

8 *684 

8 *1067 

10 *22 

8—3436 

794 


3—242 





368 

730 

1,901 

265 

1,705 

3,189 

3,871 

1 *155 

1—3189 

1 *240 

1 *195 


% 



Of Fourth Congressional District. 



611 

629 

2,188 

14 

2,438 

3,664 

4,640 

1 *442 

1 *442 

1 *139 

1 *964 

312 

3,908 

1 *36 

1 *272 




295 

538 

1,351 

145 

3,385 

3,527 

4,881 

1—1351 

1 *305 

1 *48 

1 *1205 

1044 

3,560 

4—216 

1—3560 

1. On basis of white population, is ... 


28 

572 

599 

2,087 

381 

5,430 

5,726 

7,898 

1 *341 

2—2504 

1 *109 

2*546 

349 

6,418 

1 *73 

2—2782 

2. On basis of federal No. per census of 1840, is, 


29 

819 

1,002 

3,243 

378 

10,511 

9,927 

14,132 

2—1497 

3 *261 

2 *22 

4—3104 

1005 

9,972 

4—177 

3—2700 

3. On basis of voters per “ “ 


25 








1 

1 

1 

1 

638 


2 *86 

1 

4. On basis of total population, is, ... 


30 

662 

653 

2,353 

305 

1,940 

3,822 

4,598 

1 *607 

1 *600 

1 *163 

1 *922 

368 

3,573 

1 *92 

1—3573 

5. On basis of votes at presidential election of 1844, - 


32 








1 

1 

1 

1 

265 


1—265 

1 

6. On basis of federal pop. per tax roll of 1843, is, 


27 

651 

489 

2,075 

35 

2,300 

3,490 

4,410 

1 *329 

1 *268 

1—489 

1 *734 

429 

3,680 

2—153 

1 *44 




392 

282 

1,273 

2 

563 

1,612 

1,838 

1—1273 

1—1612 

1—282 

1—1838 

419^ 

1,975 

2—143 

1—1975 











1 

1 

1 

1 

280 


1 *4 

1 

i 



592 

500 

1,856 

2 

791 

2,332 

2,649 

1 *110 

1—2332 

1 *10 

1—2649 

357 

2,279 

| 1 *81 

1—3279 











98—77 

99—84 

108—73 

101—87 


1 

101—98 

87—77 

1 




The Sub-Committee, in explanation of the foregoing Statement, show :—that 
in all their calculations, whether upon population of whites, total population, federal 
numbers, . or voters, instead of fixing an arbitrary limit to the number of the house, and 
then ascertaining how this number of representatives should be apportioned among the 
several parishes, , 

They adopted the double of the smallest parish as the representative number, and 
ascertained of how many members the house would be composed, on allowing one mem¬ 
ber to every parish having at least the half of this number, and one to every other parish 
for each time this divisor was contained in its population or voters, and one additional 
member for every fraction exceeding the half of this divisor. 

Your Committee have made two calculations on voters, one by considering all the 
white inhabitants over 20, on the census of 1840, as voters, and the other on the votes 
polled at the presidential election of 1844. Though neither of these data exhibit with 
exactness the number of voters in the several parishes, they are the nearest approach 

to it within their power to obtain. . 

The Sub-Committee deem that this statement will explain itself sufficiently, by simply 
marking ^at (_) when placed before a number in the various columns of representa¬ 


tives, signifies that this number is a fraction exceeding the half of the representative 
number, for which an additional member has been allowed the parish on the same line 
with it, and that ( X) placed before a number, signifies that this is a fraction under one 
half of the representative number, and for which the parish is not represented. 

That, to the parishes of Bossier, De Soto, Franklin, Morehead, Sabine, Tensas, and 
Vermilion, one representative each has been allowed on the supposition that they had suffi¬ 
cient population to entitle them to one representative, though they had no means of ascer¬ 
taining the fact. They further show, that by reducing the representation of Orleans to one- 
fifth, as resolved on by the committee, and striking off one member each from Lafayette 
and Natchitoches, which have both been divided since the census on which their calculations 
are principally based, the basis of white population, taken from the census ol 1840, would 
give a house of 77 members*, on federal numbers, of 84; on voters, ol /3; on total popula¬ 
tion, of 87; on votes at presidential election of 1844, of 98; and on federal numbers formed 
from tax roll of 1843, of 77 members. 

All of which is respectfully submitted, 

j, C. BEATTY, Chairman of Sub Committee. 













































































































. 




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S 

4 

.. ,*',g 




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Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


57 


by joint vote of the members of the general 
assembly.” 

On motion of Mr. Downs, to strike out, 
the } r eas and nays being called for, result¬ 
ed as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Leonard, Lew¬ 
is, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Preston, Prud- 
liorrime, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative 
-—48 ayes; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, Chinn, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Claiborne, Derbes, 
Dunn, King, Labauve, Legendre, O’Bryan, 
Roman, Taylor of St. Landry and Wikoff 
voted in the negative—*14 nays; the mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis then moved to fill the blank 
with the words “but if two or more per¬ 
sons shall be equal and highest in the num¬ 
ber of votes polled for governor, one of 
them shall be immediately chosen gover¬ 
nor by joint vote of the members of the 
general assembly.” 

Mr. Preston moved to reject said amend¬ 
ment, which motion was lost. 

Mr. Preston then moved to strike out 
from the 26th line, the words “and if no 
person hav T e a majority,” &c., to the end of 
the section, and insert in lieu thereof the 
words “but if two or more persons shall 
be equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled for lieutenant governor, one of them 
shall be immediately chosen lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, by joint vote of the members of the 
general assembly,” which motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Roman moved to strike out, in the 
24th line, the word “majority,” and insert 
“the greatest number,” which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Mayo moved to strike out, from the 
10th line, the words “their votes shall be 
returned by the officers presiding over the 
elections, to the seat of government, Jad- 
dressed' to the speaker of the house of re¬ 
presentatives,” and insert in lieu thereof 
the words “the returns of every election 
shall be sealed up and transmitted by the 
8 


proper returning officer created by law, to 
the secretary of state, who shall deliver 
them to the speaker of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives,” which motion was adopted, 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

The citizens entitled to vote for repre¬ 
sentatives shall vote for a governor and 
lieutenant governor, at the time and place 
of voting for representatives. The returns 
of every election shall be sealed up and 
transmitted, by the proper returning officer 
created by law, to the secretary of state, 
who shall deliver them to the speaker of 
the house of representatives, and on the 
second day of the session of the general 
assembly then next to be hoiden, the mem¬ 
bers of the general assembly shall meet in 
the house of representatives, to examine 
and count the votes. The person having 
the greatest number of votes for governor 
shall be declared duly elected; but if two or 
more persons shall be equal and highest in 
the number of votes polled for governor, 
one of them shall be immediately chosen 
governor by joint vote of the members of 
the general assembly. The person having 
the greatest number of the votes for lieu¬ 
tenant governor shall be lieutenant gover¬ 
nor; but if two or more persons shall be 
equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled for lieutenant governor, one of them 
shall be immediately chosen lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, by joint vote of the members of the 
general assembly; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Saunders, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee to whom was referred the 6th section of 
article 2d, as reported by the majority, with 
leave, submitted the following report and 
accompanying documents. 

Sections repotted by the committee of 
apportionment: 

Sec. 8. Each parish shall be entitled to' 
representation in proportion to its popula¬ 
tion, ascertained and calculated according 
to the principle of representation adopted in 
the constitution of the United States; provi¬ 
ded, that no parish or city shall ever be en¬ 
titled to more than one-fifth of the whole 
number of representatives. 

Sec. 9. No new parish shall be created 
with an extent of territory less than four 
hundred square miles, not with a population 
less than the full representative number re¬ 
quired at the time of its creation, to entitle 
it to a representative—nor shall any parish 




58 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


be so divided as to leave it with a smaller 
area or population than is above expressed. 

Sec. 10. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth, year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the population of this State, in such 
manner as shall be prescribed by law, tor 
the purpose of ascertaining the number of 
the federal population in each parish. 

Sec. 11. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, af:er the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes, 
on the basis of the federal population as 
aforesaid, and in the manner following, to- 
wit: some number shall be chosen as a re¬ 
presentative number, which, when applied 
in making the apportionment, shall give a 
number of representatives not less than 
seventy nor more than one hundred; the 
number so chosen shall be taken as a divi¬ 
sor, and each parishshall be entitledto one 
representative for every time this divisor 
shall be found in the dividend formed of its 
representative population, and to one addi¬ 
tional member for every fraction exceeding 
the one-half of the divisor—and any parish 
having a federal population less than the 
whole divisor, but exceeding one-half of it, 
shall be entitled to one representative, and 
the legislature shall be incompetent to act 
on any other subject matter, until the ap¬ 
portionment directed .by this article shall 
have been made. 

Sec. 12. The first representation under 
this constitution (ascertained as near 
may be, in accordance with the above 
principles,) shall continue until the first 
apportionment be made by the legisla¬ 
ture, and shall be as follows, viz: 

The parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 

Orleans, 

First Municipality 6 
Second “ 4 

Third “ 4 

Right Bank, 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 


tt 

tt 


it 


it 


ii 


a 


tt 


it 


it 


ii 


u 


a 

a 




1 

1 


14 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 


The Parish of East Baton Rouge, 
West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee* 
Concordia? 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Layfayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcassieu, 
Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 
Morehouse, 

Union, 

Caldwell, 

Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 

Bossier, 


(« 

t i 

a 

.( 

a 

u 

a 

a 

a 

a 

it 

a 

a 

a 

n 

tt 

a 

tt 

a 

it 

tt 

i< 

(< 

it 

a 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

a 

tt 


2 

2 

2 

1 

l 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 
1 

2 
2 
1 
1 
4 

1 
1 
3 

2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
I 

76 


Total, 

On motion of Mr. Saunders the said 
report was laid on the table and made the 
order of the day for Monday next. 

The Convention then resumed the order 
of the day, viz: 

SECTION THIRD OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 

1812. 

“The governor shall be ineligible for 
the succeeding four years after the expira¬ 
tion of the time for which he shall have 
been elected.” 

On motion said section was adopted. 

Constitution of 1812. Sec. 7. “The gov¬ 
ernor shall, at stated times, receive for his 
services a compensation, which shall 
neither be increased nor diminished during 
the term for which he shall have been 
elected.” 

On motion said section was adopted. 

Constitution of 1812. Sec. 8. “He shall 
be commander in chief of the army and 
navy of this State, and of the militia thereof. 




59 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


except when they shall bo called into the 
service of the United States, but he shall 
not command personally in the field, unless 
he shall bo advised so to do by a resolution of 
the general rssembly.” 

Mr. Grymes moved to strke out the 
words “ but he shall not command person¬ 
ally in the field, unless he shall be advised 
so to do by a resolution of the general as¬ 
sembly.” Which motion prevailed, and 
the section was adopted as amended. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the sections as reported by the 
majority, and the first in order being, viz : 

Sect. . “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant governor, 
•except a native citizen of the United States, 
or an inhabitant at the time of the cession 
thereof to the United States of that portion 
of territory included in the present limits of 
the State of Louisiana. Nor shall any 
person be eligible to either of the said 
offices who shall net hold, in his own right, 
landed property situated in said State, of the 
value of five thousand dollars, agreeably to 
the tax list, and who shall not have attained 
the age of thirty-five years, and have been 
ten years next preceding his election a 
resident within the State.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to strike out all the 
words in the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th lines, 
viz : “except a native citizen of the United 
States, or an inhabitant at the time of the 
cession thereof to the United States of that 
portion of territory included in the present 
limits of the State of Louisiana.” 

And pending the discussion, Mr. Brent 
moved that the Convention adjourn till to¬ 
morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m.; the yeas and 
nays being called for, (Mr. Claiborne in 
the chair,) resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson. Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Ledoux, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Ma}*o, Mazureau, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme,Pugh, Ratliff, Read, St.Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt voted in favor of the adjournment— 
52 ayes; and 


Messrs. Chinn, Derbes, Garcia, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, O’Bryan, Roman, 
Roselius, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies 
and Wikoff voted against the adjournment 
—12 nays; consequently the same was 
carried. 

Note. —Members absent—Messrs. Scott 
of Feliciana, absent on leave; and Messrs. 
Sellers and Winder, absent on account of 
illness. 


Friday, February 14, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion leave of absence was granted 
to Mr. Chambliss. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, viz: 

“ Resolved , That the sum of thirty dollars 
be allowed James Carpenter, sergeant at 
arms, it being fora months’ hire of the yel¬ 
low man Leon, up to this date, February 14, 
1845.” 

Which resolution was adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS [REPORTED BY THE 
MAJORITY. 

Sec. “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant gover¬ 
nor except a native citizen of the United 
States, or an inhabitant at the time of the 
cession thereof to the United States of 
that portion of territory included in the 
present limits of the State of Louisiana; nor 
shall any person be eligible to either of the 
said offices, who shall not hold, in his own 
right, landed property, situated in said State, 
of the value of five thousand dollars, agreea¬ 
bly to the tax list; and who shall not have 
attained the age of thirty-five years, and shall 
have been ten years next preceding his elec¬ 
tion, a resident within the State.” 

The debate at the adjournment was on 
the motion of Mr. Beatty to strike out 
from said section the words “except a na¬ 
tive citizen of the United States, or an 
inhabitant, at the time of the cession thereof 
to the United States, of that portion of the 
territory included in the present limits of 
Louisiana.” 

And pending the discussion, Mr. McRae 
moved that the Convention adjourn till to¬ 
morrow at 10 o’clock a. m. 






00 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana: 


Mr. Voorhies called for the yeas and 
nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, JLa- 
bauve, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Penn, Porche, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Land¬ 
ry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Wadftill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted for the ad¬ 
journment—55 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Humble, Legendre, Mazureau, 
Porter, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Voorhies voted against the adjournment— 
12 nays; consequently the same was car¬ 
ried. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Scott 
of Feliciana, Sellers, Chambliss and Win¬ 
der, all absent, on leave. 

' . . , * 

Saturday, February 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Scott of Baton Rouge, Read, 
McCallop and Ratliff. 

Mr. Benjamin, member of the committee 
on contingent expenses, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, viz: 

“ Resolved , That an appropriation of five 
hundred dollars be placed at the disposal 
of the committee on contingent expenses, 
to be applied so far as it may be necessary 
to the payment of the costs of extra print¬ 
ing ordered by authority of the Conven¬ 
tion. 

On motion, the said resolution was 
adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS REPORTED BY THE 
MAJORITY. 

Sec. -. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor, or lientenant gov¬ 
ernor, except a native citizen of the Uni¬ 
ted States, or an inhabitant at the time 
of cession thereof to the United States, 


of that portion of territory included in the 
present limits of the State of Louisi- 
ana. Nor shall any person be eligible to 
either of said offices, who shall not hold, 
in his own right, landed properted situated 
in said State, of the value of five thousand 
dollars, agreeable to the tax list; and who 
shall not have attained the age of thirty-five 
years, and have been ten years next pre¬ 
ceding his election, a resident within the 
State. 

From which section Mr. Beatty moved 
to strike out the words of “except a native 
citizen of the United States, or an inhabi¬ 
tant at the time of the cession thereof to 
the United States, of that portion of terri¬ 
tory included in the-presen limits of the 
State of Louisiana.” ’ 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till Monday 
next, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent—Messrs. Mc¬ 
Callop, Chambliss, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
absent on leave; and St. Amand. 


Monday, February 17, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Woolridge opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Saunders the report 
of the committee to whom was referred the 
6th section of article 3d, and made the or¬ 
der of the day for to-day, was postponed 
until the section under discussion be dis¬ 
posed of. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

article third, as reported by the 

MAJORITY. 

• Sec. No person shall be eligible to the 
office of governor or lieutenant governor, 
except a native citizen of the United jStates, 
or an inhabitant at ihe time of cession 
thereof to the United States, of that portion 
of territory included in the present limits of 
the State of Louisiana. Nor shall any per¬ 
son be eligible to either of the said offices, 
who shall not hold, in his own right, landed 
property situated in said State, of the value 
of five thousand dollars, agreeably to the 
tax list; and who shall not have attained 
the age of thirty-five years, and have been 
ten years, next preceeding his election, a 
resident within the State. 

To which Mr. Beatty moved to strike 







Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. Gl 


out the words “except a native citizen of the 
United States, or an inhabitant at the time 
of the cession thereof to the United States, 
of that portion ot territory included in the 
present limits of the State of Louisiana.” 

Mr. Guion moved that the motion to 
strike out be laid on the table; and then 
submitted the following amendment to the 
said section: 

Strike out from the 3d line the words “an 
inhabitant,” and insert “a citizen,” and 
strike out from the 4th, 5th and Gth lines 
the words “the cession thereof to the Uni¬ 
ted States, of that portion of territory in¬ 
cluded in the present limits,” and insert 
“the adoption of this constitution.” 

So that the section as amended would 
read as follows, viz: 

No person shall be eligible to the office 
of governor, or lieutenant governor, except 
a native citizen of the United States, or a 
citizen of the State of Louisiana at the 
time of the adoption of this constitution. 

The president submitted to the Conven¬ 
tion a letter of invitation from the secretary 
of the public schools of municipality num¬ 
ber one. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock a. m. 

Note.— Members absent, Messrs. Cham¬ 
bliss, Scott of Feliciana, and Sellers, all 
absent on leave; and Messrs. Ledoux and 
Porche. 


Tuesday, February 18, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Twitciiard opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Messrs. Scott of Madison, and Burton. 

Mr. Labauve was excused for being ab¬ 
sent on yesterday, on account of illness. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
the vote given on the rule, fixing 10 o’clock, 
a. m. for the meeting of the Convention, 
was reconsidered. 

On motion, the said rule was rescinded, 
and the hour of 1 i o’clock, a. m., was fixed 
for the meeting of the Convention. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 
ARTICLE third, as reported by the 
MAJORITY. 

Sect. 3. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, except a native citizen of the United 


States, or an inhabitant at the time of the 
cession thereof to the United States of that 
portion of territory included in the present 
limits ot the State of Louisiana. Nor shall 
any person be eligible to either of the said 
offices, who shall not hold in his own right, 
landed property situated in said State of the 
value of five thousand dollars, agreeably to 
the tax list; and who shall not have attained 
the age of thirty-five years, and have been 
ten years next preceding his election a 
resident within the State. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “ except a native 
citizen of the United States, or an inhabi¬ 
tant at the time of the cession thereof to the 
United States, of that portion of territory 
included in the present limits of the State 
of Louisiana.” 

Mr. Guion moved to lay said amendment 
on the table, and called for the yeas and 
nays. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to postpone the 
vote upon said motion, until 1 o’clock, p. 
m., which motion prevailed. 

The next in order came the report of the 
committee to whom was referred the Gth 
section of article 2d, and on motion of Mr. 
Saunders, the same was laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, then called 
up the 4th section of article 3d, as reported 
by the majority, viz : 

Sect. 4. The governor shall enter on 
the discharge of his duties on the second 
Monday of January, in the year , and 
shall continue in office until the Monday 
next preceding the day that his sucecssor 
shall have been declared duly elected, or 
until his successor shall have taken the oath 
or affirmation prescribed by this Consti¬ 
tution. 

On motion of Mr. Peets, the word 
“ second” was stricken out, and the word 

“fourth” inserted in lieu thereof. 

* 

Mr. Mayo moved to strike out the word 
“or,” and insert in lieu thereof the word 
“and;” which motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Chinn, the blank in 
said section was filled with “ 1846.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to strike out the 
words, “ or until his successor shall have 
taken the oath or affirmation prescribed by 
this Constitution;” which motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the vote to 
fill the blank with “ 1846,” was re-con¬ 
sidered. 







62 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Ratliff then moved to strike out 
“1846;” which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
strike out the words, “in the year,’” and 
insert in lieu thereof the words “ next 
ensuing his election,” which motion was 
adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended, was 
adopted, viz: 

Sect. 4. The governor shall enter on 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 
Monday of the January next ensuing his 
election, and shall continue in office until 
the Monday next succeeding the day that 
his successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and his successor shall have taken 
the oath or affirmation prescribed by this 
Constitution. 

Then the section 5th, of said article, 
was called up, viz: 

Sect. 5. No member of congress or 
person holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious society, 
shall be eligible to the office of governor 
or lieutenant governor. 

Mr. Chinn offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz: 

“No member of congress or person hold¬ 
ing any office under this State, or the United 
States, or minister of any religious society, 
shall be elected to the office of governor.” 

It being I o’clock, the hour fixed to vote 
on the motion of Mr. Guion to lay on the 
table the motion ol Mr. Beatty to strike out, 
the yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows, viz : 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brumfield, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Leivis, Mazu- 
reau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—28 ayes; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Humble, 
Hynson, Leonard, Me Callop, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Roselius, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikojfx oted 


in the negative—40 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

The ayes and nays were then called for 
on the motion of Mr. Beatty, to strike out 
the words, “except a native born citizen of 
the United States, or an inhabitant at the 
time of the cession thereof to the United 
States, of that portion of territory included 
in the present limits of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana,” resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Humble, 
Hynson, Labauve, Leonard, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, O' Bryan,Peets,Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voor¬ 
hies, Waddill Wederstrandt and WiJcoff 
voted in favor of the motion to strike out— 
41 ayes; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Brum¬ 
field, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Garrett, 
Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme , 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth , 
Winchester and Winder voted against said 
motion to strike out—127 nays; conse¬ 
quently the same was carried. 

Mr. Beatty moved to strike out from 
said section 3d, and article 3d, the words 
“nor shall any person be eligible to either 
of the said offices who shall not hold, in his 
own right landed property situated in said 
State, of the value of live thousand dollars, 
agreeably to the tax list; and.” 

Mr. Dunn then offered the following 
substitute, viz : “No person shall be eligible 
to the office of governor or lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, who shall not have attained the age 
of thirty-five years, and have been sixteen 
years a citizen of the United States, and 
ten years a citizen of the State next prece¬ 
ding his election. 

Mr. Brent submitted the following as a 
substitute to the substitute of Mr. Dunn, 
viz: 

“Every qualified elector of this State 
shall be eligible to the office of governor o 
lieutenant governor.” 

The President was appealed to, and 
asked whether the substitute offered by Mr. 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 63 


Brent to the substitute offered by Mr. Dunn, 
was in order. 

Mr. Labauve in the chair, decided that 
Mr. Brent’s substitute was in order, and 
had the preference. 

Mr. Dunn appealed from the decision of 
the chair. 

On the question being put, “shall the de¬ 
cision of the chair be sustained?” the Con¬ 
vention decided that it should not. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, the substitute 
offered by Mr. Dunn, was laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

Then the yeas and nays being called for, 
on the motion of Mr. Beatty, to strike out 
the words, “nor shall any person be eligible 
to either of the said offices, who shall not 
hold in his own right, landed property situ¬ 
ated in said State of the value of live thou¬ 
sand dollars, agreeably to the tax list; 
and,”—resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Cacte, Car Here, Cenas, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson , Leonard, McCallop, 
McRae,Mayo, O’Bryan, Beets, Penn,Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff \ Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voor- 
hies, Waddill Wederstrandt, Wikoff and 
Winder voted in the affirmative-— 38 
ayes; and 

Messrs. Aubert,Benjamin, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cidbertson, 
Derbes, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Legendre, Labauve, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Taylor of St. Landry, 
and Winchester voted in the negative— 28 
nays; consequently the motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Winder moved to amend by striking 
out from said section the words, “and have 
been ten years next preceding his election 
a resident within the State,” and insert in 
lieu thereof the words “ and has not been 
fifteen years a citizen of the United States 
and of this State.” 

Mr. Dunn moved for a division, that is 
that the Convention first proceed to strike 
out. 

Mr. Read submitted the following sub¬ 
stitute, “who shall not have attained the 
age of twenty-one years, and have been 
two years next preceding his election a 


resident within the State and a citizen of 
the United States.” 

Mr. Vooriiies moved that said substitute 
be laid on the table indefinitely, and called 
for the ayes and nays, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou« 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conracl 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve , Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Penn, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott ofSt.Landry, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies , Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative-—52 
yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Humble , Me- 
Callop, McRae, O’Bryan, Porter, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative — 12 
nays; consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr, Brent renewed the motion of Mr. 
Dunn, for a division, that is the Convention 
first proceed to strike out the word “ten,” 
and called for the yeas and nays. 

Me^rs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brazeale , Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Gar¬ 
cia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve,Legendre, Lewis,Mazureau,O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Preston, Pugh , Roman, Rose¬ 
lius, St. Amand, Saunders, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad¬ 
dill, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Cade, Claiborne, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Leonard, MeCallop,' McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—24 nays; the motion was carried. 

Mr. King moved to fill the blank with 
the words “twenty-one.” 

Pending the discussion, the Convention 
adjourned till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a.m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Bur¬ 
ton, Chambliss, Scott of Feliciana, and 
Scott of Madison, absent on leave; and 

Messrs. Covillion, Ledoux, and Porche. 

% 




64 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Wednesday, February 19, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos- 
pel, the president called on the honorable 
delegate from Sabine, Mr. Stephens, who 
opened the proceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Guion and 
Hynsom 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS REPORTED BY THE 
COMMITTEE. 

Sec. 3. “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age of 

thirty-five years, and have been-years 

next preceding his election a resident in 
the State.” 

Mr. O’Bryan renewed his motion to fill 
the blank with the word “five.” 

Mr. Winder moved to fill the blank in 
said section with the word “fifteen,” and 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Garcia, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre,Lewis,Mazureau,Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative- 1 —29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Cade, Carriere, Clai¬ 
borne, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, 
Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—27 nays; consequently 
the motion was carried. 

Mr. Porter gave notice that he would, 
on a future day, move the reconsideration 
of the vote to fill the blank with the word 
“fifteen.” 

Mr. Winder then moved to amend the 
said section by striking out the words “a 
resident within the State,” and insert after 
the word “years” the words “and has not 
been fifteen years a free white male citizen 
of the United States, and of this State next 
preceding his election;” and the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, 


Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 

; Mazureau, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor¬ 
hies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—35 veas; 
and 

Messrs. Brent, Carriere, Downs, Garcia, 
Humble, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Preston, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, 
Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—23 nays; the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended. 

Mr. Dunn submitted the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

“No person shall be eligible to the office 
of governor or lieutenant governor, who 
shall not have attained the age of thirty-five 
years, and have been sixteen years a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, and ten years a 
citizen of the State next preceding his elec¬ 
tion.” 

Mr. Wadsworth moved that the substi¬ 
tute be laid on the table indefinitely, and 
called for the yeas and nays, which resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, 
Conrad of New Orleans,- Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Guion,« Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in favor of 
said motion—31 ayes ; and 

Messrs. Brent, Cade, Carriere, Clai¬ 
borne, Downs,' Dunn,- Garcia, Garrett, 
Humble, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted against the 
motion—28 nays ; the same was adopted. 

Mr. Voorhies, having voted in the ma¬ 
jority, moved to reconsider the vote given to 
fill the blank with the word “fifteen.” 

Mr. Kenner moved for the previous 
question. 





.. Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


65 


The President then put the question, 
‘‘shall the main question now be put?” and the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Guion, Hudspeth, Ken¬ 
ner, Iving,j Labauve f Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative— 
30 ayes; and 

Messrs. Brent, Cade, Carriere, Downs, 
Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Leonard, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative—28 nays; the motion 
was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

Sec. 3. “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five' years, and has not been fifteen 
years a free white male citizen of the Uni- 
ted States, and of this State next preceding 
his election.” 

The yeas and nays being called for 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in favor of 
the adoption—33 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Carriere, Downs, Dunn, 
Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Leonard, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Trist and Waddill voted j 
against the adoption—25 nays; the section 
was adopted. 

Mr. Mayo gave notice that he would, on j 
Tuesday next, move the reconsideration of 
the vote given on the adoption of said 
section.- 


Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, called up 
the 5th section of article 3d, it being the 
next in order, viz: 

Sec. 5. “No member of congress, or 
person holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious society, 
shall be eligible to the office of governor or 
lieutenant governor.” 

Mr. Lewis moved that said section be 
laid on the table until the Convention shall 
have under consideration the general pro¬ 
visions; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brent, Cenas, Culbertson, Der¬ 
bes, Guion, Humble, Kenner, King, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, McRea, Mayo, Mazureau, 
O’Bryan, Peets,Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Ratliff, Read, Roselius, Saunders, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist and Waddill voted in the 
affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Labauve, Legendre, McCallop, 
Marigny, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Scott of Baton Rouge,Taylor of Assumption, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—30 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was lost.' 

Mr. Marigny then moved the adoption 
of the section as reported. 

Mr. McRae moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing after the word “society” the words “or 
any attorney or counsellor at law.” 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question. 

The President then put the question, 
“shall the main question be now put?” and 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Cade, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson,Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs,Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Ma¬ 
zureau, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Carriere, Cenas, Kenner, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 


9 





f 


60 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana* 


Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tris^ Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative— 
19 nays; the motion was consequently car¬ 
ried. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion to adopt the section as re¬ 
ported by the committee, and resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett, Humble, Labauve, Legendre, 
McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, Porter, 
Prescott .of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Land¬ 
ry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Splane, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Wederstrandt and Winder voted in favor 
of the adoption—37 ayes; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brent, Derbes, Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, King, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Preston, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Waddilland Winchester voted against the 
adoption—19 nays; consequently the same 
was adopted. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, submitted 
the following resolution, viz: 

“Whereas, the business of the Conven¬ 
tion is from day to day transacted by a bare 
majority, in consequence of the absence of 
members, and, whereas, experience has 
taught the absolute impossibility of securing 
a proper revision of the constitution in 
New Orleans, 

“Therefore be it Resolved , That this 

Convention will adjourn on the-day of 

February, to meet again in the town of 
Jackson on the-day of March next.’ r 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert, Burton, Chambliss, Brazeale, Hynson, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, ab¬ 
sent on leave, and Messrs. Covillion, 
Eustis, Grymes, Ledoux and Porche. 

Thursday, February 20, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

The president submitted two letters of 
invitation, one from Major General Lewis, 
of the first division of the Louisiana militia; 


and the other from Judge McCaleb, chair¬ 
man of the committee of arrangements of 
the public schools of municipality number 
two, inviting the Convention to attend the 
celebration of the anniversary of the birth 
day of the immortal Washington. 

On motion, said invitations were ac¬ 
cepted. 

Mr. Chinn submitted the following no¬ 
tice, viz: 

Notice is given, that under the head of 
general provisions I shall offer a section to 
the following effect: that from and after the 
adoption of this constitution, any person o? 
persons being citizens of this State, who 
shall fight a duel with deadly weapons in 
the State, or who shall go out of the State 
for that purpose, or who shall send or re¬ 
ceive a challenge to fight a duel with dead¬ 
ly weapons, or who shall act as second to 
those thus acting, shall be forever disquali¬ 
fied from holding or exercising any office 
of trust or profit, under this constitution. 

Mr. O’Bryan offered the following reso¬ 
lutions, viz: 

Resolved , That when the Convention ad¬ 
journs on Friday the 21st, that it adjourns 
to meet again in the hall of the house of 
representatives, on Tuesday the 11th day of 
March next, at 12 o’clock m. 

Resolved , That all per diem of members 
and officers of this Convention, shall be 
suspended during said adjournment. 

Resolved , That on Friday the 21st inst., 
the Convention return this room, and those 
accompanying it, to the charge of Mrs. 
Hawley. 

Mr. Dunn moved that the above resolu¬ 
tions be laid on the table indefinitely, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Marig¬ 
ny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porche, Pres¬ 
ton, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff', Read, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi- 
koff voted in the affirmative—45 yeas; and 

Messrs. Cade, Hudspeth, McRae, O’Bry¬ 
an, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe 







67 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


hciana, and Taylor of St. Landry, voted in 
the negative- 7-9 nays; the motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Dunn submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved , That the Convention meet eve¬ 
ry day (holidays and Sundays excepted) at 
10 o’clock a. m., and adjourn at 3 o’clock 
p. m., and that no motion to adjourn to any 
other time shall be adopted unless upon the 
vote of two-thirds of the members present; 
provided it shall be in order to adjourn the 
Convention to some place out of the city of 
New Orleans, by a majority of votes, on 
three days previous notice being given. 

Mr. Brent offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz: 

Resolved , That from and after this date, 
no leave of absence shall be granted to any 
member, except on account of sickness; and 
in no case shall any absentee be allowed 
his per diem , unless he shall have previous¬ 
ly obtained leave of absence in accordance 
with this resolution. 

Mr. Kenner moved to lay the resolution 
and substitute on the table indefinitely, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner,King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, O’Bryan, Porche, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—49 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Carriere, Dunn, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn and Porter voted in the nega¬ 
tive—7 nays; consequently the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, called up the 
resolution submitted by him on yesterday, 
viz: 

“Whereas the business of the Conven¬ 
tion is from day to day transacted by a bare 
majority, in consequence ol the absence of 
members; and whereas experience has 
taught the absolute impossibility of securing 
a proper revision of the constitution in New 
Orleans. Therefore be it 


♦ 

“ Resolved , That this Convention will ad¬ 
journ on the day of February to meet again 
in the town of Jackson on the day of 
March next,” and moved that it be laid on 
the table subject to call. 

Mr. Voorhies moved that the said reso¬ 
lution be laid on the table indefinitely, and 
called for the yeas and nays; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Penn, Porche, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—45 yeas; and 

Messrs. Dunn, Leonard, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Waddill and 
Wikoff voted against the motion—14 nays; 
the same was carried. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, submitted 
the following additional rule, viz: 

“The yeas and nays shall not be taken 
on any question, unless ten members rise 
to support the call for them.” 

O 11 motion of Mr. Ratliff, chairman of 
the committee on contingent expenses, Mr. 
Roselius was appointed an additional mem¬ 
ber to the said committee. 

This being the day fixed for the consid¬ 
eration of the report of the committee of re¬ 
vision, Mr. Lewis called up the section 1st 
of article 1 st, as reported by the committee 
of revision, viz: 

article first, as reported by the 
commtitee of revision. 

Sec. 1 . The powers of the government 
of the State of Louisiana shall be divided 
into three distinct departments, and each of 
them to be confided to a separate body of 
magistracy, to-wit: those which are legis¬ 
lative to one, those which are executive to 
another, and those which are judicial to an¬ 
other. 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Sec. 2. No person holding office in one 
of these departments, shall exercise any 
powers properly belonging to either of the 
others, except in the instances hereinafter 
e xpressly directed or permitted. 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana • 


G8 

* 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin the said 
section was re-committed to the committee 
of revision. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS REPORTED BY THE 
MAJORITY. 

Sec. 6. The governor shall have power 
to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall, with the consent of the senate, 
have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In 
cases of treason lie may grant reprieves 
until the end of the next session of the gen¬ 
eral assembly, in which the power of par¬ 
doning shall be vested. 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Sec. 7. All commissions shall be in the 
name and by the authority of the State of 
Louisiana, and shall be sealed with the 
State seal and signed by the governor. 

On motion* said section was adopted. 

Sec. 8. In case of the impeachment of 
the governor; his removal from office, death, 
refusal to qualify, resignation or absence 
from the State, the powers and duties of the 
office shall devolve upon the lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor for the residue of the term, or until 
the governor absent or impeached, shall 
return or be acquitted. The legislature 
may provide by law for the case of removal, 
death, resignation or inability, both of the 
governor and lieutenant governor, declaring 
what officer shall act as governor; and such 
officer shall act accordingly, until the disa¬ 
bility be removed or a governor shall be 
elected. 

On motion of Mr. Cenas the words “and 
duly qualified,” were added at the end of 
the section. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo the word “of” 
inserted after the word “both,” was inserted 
before said word. 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, the words “or inability,” were in¬ 
serted after the word “refusal.” 

Mr. Saunders moved to add at the end 
of the section, the words “at the time ap¬ 
pointed by the legislature for the residue of 
the term,” which motion was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Downs the words “or 
a governor shall be elected” were stricken 
out, and the words “or for the residue of the 
term” were inserted in lieu thereof. 

On motion, the section was adopted as 
amended, viz: 


Sec. 8. In case of the impeachment of 
the governor, his removal, from office, 
death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the State, the pow¬ 
er and duties of the office shall devolve upon 
the lieutenant governor for the residue of 
the term, or until the governor absent or 
impeached, shall return or be acquitted. 
The legislature may provide by law for the 
case of removal, the impeachment, death, 
resignation, disability or refusal to qualify, 
of both the governor and lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, declaring what officer shall act as 
governor; and such officer shall act accord¬ 
ingly, until the disability be removed or for 
the residue of the term. 

Sec. 9. The lieutenant governor or oth¬ 
er officer discharging the duties of governor, 
shall, during his administration, receive the 
same compensation to which the governor 
would have been entitled, had he continued 
in office. 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Sec. 10. The lieutenant governor shall 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate, the senators 
shall elect one of their own members as 
president of the senate, for that occasion. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend said section by striking out the 
words “but shall have only a casting vote 
therein,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
words “have a right when in committee of 
the whole, to debate and vote on all sub¬ 
jects, and when the senate are equally di¬ 
vided to give the casting vote.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
amend by inserting the words “shall have 
the right of participation in the debates.” 

Mr. Boudousquie moved, that both 
amendments be laid on the table indefinite¬ 
ly, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Read moved to amend by striking 
out at the end of the section, the words “the 
occasion,” and insert in lieu therof, the 
words “the time being,” which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the words “by virtue of 
his office,” the words “secretary of state.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to lay the said 
amendment on the table indefinitely, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, 




69 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana* 


Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Briant, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Yoorhies, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in favor of the motion—38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Downs, Humble, McCallop, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Raton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Taylor of Assumption, and Waddill 
voted against the motion—15 nays; the 
same was carried. 

Mr. Marigny moved the adoption of the 
section as amended, viz: 

Sec. 10 . The lieutenant governor shall 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate, the senators 
shall elect one of their own members as 
president of the senate, for the time being. 

Which motion prevailed. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note.’—M embers absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert, Brazeale, Burton, Chambliss, Guion, 
Hynson and Scott of Madison, absent on 
leave; and Messrs. Covillion, Ledoux and 
Eustis. * 

Friday, February 21 , 1845. 

. The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, at the request of the president, the Hon. 
delegate frbm Sabine (Mr. Stephens) open¬ 
ed the proceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Roselius moved that the Convention 
accept the invitation and attend in a body 
the Examination of the Public Schools in 
Municipality No. 1, which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption called up 
the rule offered by him on yesterday, and 
moved the adoption of the same, viz: 

“The yeas and nays shall not be taken 
on any question, unless ten members rise 
to support the call for them.” 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge moved that 
the same be laid on the table subject to 
call, which motion was lo 3 t. 


Mr. Ratliff moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next at 11 o’clock, a.m., 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that said rule be 
laid on the table and made the special or¬ 
der of the day for Monday next, immediate¬ 
ly after the reading of the journal, which 
motion prevailed. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till Monday next at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Au- 
bert, Brazeale, Burton, Chambliss, Guion, 
Hynson and Scott of Madison, absent on 
leave; Messrs. Boudousquie, Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Porche, Preston, Prudhom¬ 
me, St. Amand, Wadsworth, Wikoff and 
Winchester. 


MoNDAiq February 24, 1845. 

The convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer: 

On motion Messrs. Garcia, Soule and 
Briant were excused from attendance on 
account of sickness; and leave of absence 
was granted to Messrs. Splane, Pugh, 
Cade, McRae and Lewis. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the Convention adjourn till to-morrow at 11 
o’clock a; m. for want of a quorum, which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. O’Bryan submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

“ Resolved, That from and after the 15th 
day of March next, the Convention will 
grant no leave of absence to any member, 
unless in case of sickness of the member 
or some one of his family.” 

Mr. Winder moved to lay the resolution 
on the table indefinitely, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brumfield, Ce. 
nas,Dunn, Hudspeth, King,Legendre, Leon¬ 
ard, McCallop, Mazureau, Porche, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Ro- 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry 
and Winder voted in the affirmative —22 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Carriere, Covillion, Der¬ 
bes, Downs, Garret, Hynson, Marigny, 
Mayo, O 1 Bryan, Peels', Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in 






70 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the negative—22 nays; the vote being 
equally divided, the president voted in the 
negative, the motion was consequenty lost. 

Mi*. Beatty moved to amend by striking 
out the “15th of March,” and insert in lieu 
thereof the words “the 24th day of Feb¬ 
ruary.” 

Mr. Dunn moved that the resolution and 
amendment be laid on the table till to-mor¬ 
row, which motion was lost. 

On the question of order, the president 
decided that this resolution was out of order, 
inasmuch as the rule offered Friday, by 
Mr. Taylor of Assumption, was made the 
special order of the day for to-day, immedi¬ 
ately after the reading of the journal. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, called up 
the rule offered by him, and made the 
special order of the day for to-day, viz: 

“The yeas and nays shall not be taken 
on any question, unless ten members rise 
to support the call for them.” 

Mr, Marigny moved for the adoption of 
the rule, and called for the yeas and nays: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brum¬ 
field, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson,Derbes, Kenner, King , Labauve, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau , Porche, 
Roman, Roselius , St. Amand , Saunders, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—26 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brent , Carriere, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis,Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
Leonard, Me Callop, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Waddilp Wederstrandt and Wikoff 
voted in the negative—29 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was lost. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD AS REPORTED BY THE 
MAJORITY. 

Sec. 11. “While he acts as president 
of the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of re¬ 
presentatives, and no more.” 

Mr. Marigny moved to amend by stri¬ 
king all the words of the first line, more¬ 
over the words, “the same compensation 
which shall for the same period be allowed 


to the speaker of the house of representa¬ 
tives, and no more,’’ and insert in lieu 
thereof the words “a compensation shall 
be fixed by the legislature.” 

Which motion was lost. 

On motion, the said 11th section, as re¬ 
ported, was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 11. “While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of re¬ 
presentatives, and no more.” 

The 12th section was then called up, 
viz: 


Sec. 12. “A secretary of state shall be 
appointed and commissioned, to hold his 
office during the pleasure of the governor. 
The records of the State shall be kept and 
preserved in the office of the secretary. 
He shall keep a fair register of the official 
acts and proceedings of the governor, and 
when necessary shall attest them. He 
shall, when required, lay the said register 
and all papers, minutes and vouchers rela¬ 
tive to his office, before either house of the 
general assembly, and shall perform such 
other duties as may be enjoined on him by 
law.” 

Mr. Claiborne moved to strike out the 
words “during the pleasure of the govern¬ 
or,” and insert in lieu thereof the words 
“during the term for which the governor 
shall have been elected, if he shall so long 
behave himself well.” * 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
amend the amendment, by striking out the 
words “ if he shall so long behave himself 
well ;” which amendment was accepted by 
Mr. C aiborne. 

And on motion, the amendment as 
amended, was adopted. 

Mr. Peets offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz: “a secretary of state shall be 
elected by the qualified electors of the State 
at large, at the same time of the election 
for governor, and shall hold his office during 
the term for which the governor shall have 


been elected. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the said substitute be postponed until the 
Convention take up the judiciary depart¬ 
ment; which motion was lost. 

And the yeas and nays being called for, 
on the adoption of the substitute, resulted as 
follows: 






71 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Carriere, Co- 
villion, Downs, Garrett , Humble, Me Gallop, 
Mayo, O’ Bryan, Peels,Penn,Porche,Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Saunders, Scott 'of Baton Rouge,Scoft 
of Feliciana, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the affirmative—26 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Cenas, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Grymes, Hudspeth, Hynson, King, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Leonard, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau , Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Sellers, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wi- 
koff and Winchester voted in the negative— 
30 nays ; consequently the substitute was 
lost. 

Mr. Porter then submitted the following 
substitute, for the whole section, viz : 

“A secretary of State shall be appointed 
by joint vote of the general assembly, and 
commissioned during the term of four years; 
he shall keep a register of all the official 
acts and proceedings of the governor, and 
shall when required lay the same and pa¬ 
pers, minutes and official vouchers relative 
thereto, before the general assembly, and 
shall perform such other duties as shall be 
enjoined by law. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said substitute, resulted as 
follows : 

Messrs, Culbertson, McCallop, Peels, 
Porter, Ratliff and Waddill voted in favor 
of said substitute ; and 
Messrs. Boudousquie, Bourg,Brent,Briant, 
Brumfield, Carriere, Cenas, Conrad of New 
Orleans, CoviUion, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Leonard, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O - 
Bryan, Penn, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St Landry, Preston, Prud¬ 
homme, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Wi- 
hoff and Winchester voted against the adop¬ 
tion of said substitute—47 nays; the same 
was lost. 

Mr. Roman moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “shall” the 
words, “be nominated and appointed by the 


governor with the advice and consent of the 
senate,” which amendment was adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended, was 
adopted, viz: 

Sect. 12. A secretary of state shall be 
nominated and appointed by the governor, 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
and commissioned to hold his office during 
the term for which the governor shall have 
been elected. The records of the State 
shall be kept and preserved in the office of 
the secretary. He shall keep a fair register 
of the official acts and proceedings of the 
governor, and when necessary shall attest 
them. He shall, when required, lay the 
said register and all papers, minutes and 
vouchers relative to his office, before either 
house of the general assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be en¬ 
joined on him by law. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned, 
till to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Au- 
bert, Brazeale, Briant, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Garcia, Guion, Lewis, McRae r 
Pugh, Scott of Madison, Soule, andSplane, 
all absent on leave; and Messrs. Chinn 
and Ledoux. 


Tuesday, February 25, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Stanton opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Saunders gave notice that he would 
on a future day, move the re-consideration 
of the vote given on yesterday, making the 
secretary of state elective. 

This being the day fixed for the recon¬ 
sideration of the vote given on the adoption 
of the 3d section of the executive depart¬ 
ment, on motion of Mr. Mayo, the reconsid¬ 
eration was postponed until Tuesday next, 
the 4th day of March. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revisal, submitted the following report, 
viz: 

ARTICLE FIRST, AS REPORTED BY TIIE 
COMMITTEE OF REVISAL. 

Sect. 2. No one of these departments 
nor any person holding office in one of them, 
shall exercise power properly belonging to 
either of the others, except in the instances 
hereinafter expressly directed or permitted. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, said report 
was ordered to be printed. 




72 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The next in order came the following 
resolution, offered on yesterday by Mr. 
O’Bryan, viz 5 

“ Resolved, That from and after the 15th 
day of March next, the Convention will 
grant no leave of absence to any member, 
unless in case of sickness of the member or 
some one of his family. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, the words 
“15th of March” were stricken out, and the 
words “25\h of February” were inserted in 
lieu thereof. 

The ayes and nays were then called for 
on the motion to adopt said resolution as 
amended, and resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin , Brent, Brum - 
field, Carriere, Chambliss, Claiborne,Downs, 
Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Alarigny, Mazureau, O'Bryan, 
Pects, Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Roman, 
Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Prist, Voorhxes 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative 
—28 ayes; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Burton, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Co- 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Leonard, 
Me Gallop, McRae, Mayo, Penn, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, Ratliff', 
Read, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St, Landry, Waddill, 
Wikoff, and Winder voted in the negative— 
31 nays; consequently said resolution was 
rejected. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE THIRD, AS REPORTED BY THE 
, MAJORITY. 

Constitution of 1812. Section 9. “He 
shall nominate and appoint, with the advice 
and consent of the senate, judges, sheriffs, 
and all other officers whose offices are es¬ 
tablished by this constitution, and whose 
appointments are not herein otherwise pro¬ 
vided for: Provided, however, that the le¬ 
gislature shall have a right to prescribe the 
mode of appointment to all offices to be 
established by lawv 

Mr. Humble moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by striking out the words “judges, 
sheriffs, and other.” 

Mr. Dunn moved for a division; that is, 
the Convention first proceed to strike out 
the word “judges;” which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion to strike out the word 
“ judges,” and 


Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, 
ITynson, Ledoux, Leonard, AIcC allop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt vo¬ 
ted in favor of said motion-—30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre. Marigny, Mazureau,Prudhomme, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor- 
hies, Wikoff and Winder voted against said 
motion—28 nays ; consequently the same 
was carried. 

The ayes and nays were then called on 
the motion to strike out the word “sheriffs,” 
and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson,Derbes, 
Dozens, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner,Ledoux,Leonard, Ale Callop,M’Rae, 
Mayo,O''Bryan, Peets, Penn,Porche,Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read , Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff' 
and Winder voted in the affirmative-—43 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Eustis , Hudspeth, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Alarigny, Alazureau, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand and Taylor of St. 
Landry voted in the negative—14 nays; the 
motion was adopted. 

Mr, Taylor, of Assumption, moved to 
amend by striking out the words “Provi¬ 
ded however, that,” and insert at the end 
of the section the words “Provided they 
shall not be elected by the general assem¬ 
bly, or by either of the two houses.” 

Mr. Porter moved to lay the amend¬ 
ment and proviso on the table, which mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr . Taylor, of Assumption, then moved 
the adoption of the amendment and provi¬ 
so, which motion was lost. 

On motion, the section was adopted as 
amended, viz : 

Sec. 9. Const. 1812. “He shall nom¬ 
inate and appoint, with the advice and con- 

* 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


73 


sent of the senate, all officers, whose offi¬ 
ces are established by this constitution, and 
whose appointments are not herein other¬ 
wise provided for : Provided, however, the 
legislature shall have the right to prescribe 
the mode of appointment to all other offi¬ 
ces to be established by law.” 

The convention then called up section 
10, “of the constitution of 1812” viz: 

Sec. 10* The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill up vacancies that may happen du¬ 
ring the recess of the legislature, by grant¬ 
ing commissions which shall expire at the 
end of the next session.” 

On motion the same was adopted. 

Section 12, of the constitution of 1812, 
viz: 

Sec. 12. He may require information 
in writing from the officers in the execu¬ 
tive department, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices. 

On motion said section was adopted. 

Section 13, of the constitution of 1812. 

Sec. 13. He shall from time to time 
give to the general assembly information 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient, 

On motion said section was adopted. 

Section 14 of the constitution of 1812. 

Sec. 14. He may on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions, convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place if that should have become danger¬ 
ous from an enemy, or from contagious dis¬ 
orders; and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween the two houses with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such time as he may think proper, not 
exceeding four months. 

Mr. Porter moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing after the word “assembly,” in the se¬ 
cond line, the words “or continue their ses¬ 
sion for a period not exceeding thirty days,” 
which motion was lost. 

On motion, the section 14 of the consti¬ 
tution of 1812, was then adopted as reported, 
viz: 

Sect. 14. He may on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions, convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place, if that should have become danger¬ 
ous from an enemy, or from contagious 
disorders; and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween the two houses, with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 
10 


to such a timo as he may think proper, not 
exceeding four months. 

Section 15th of the constitution of 1812, 
viz : 

Sect. 15* “ He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed.” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Section 20th of the constitution of 1812, 
viz : 

Sect. 20. “ Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses, shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve he shall sign it, 
if not, he shall return it,- with his objections, 
to the house in which it shall have origi¬ 
nated, who shall enter the objections at 
large upon their journal, and proceed to rc- 
reconsider it; if after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of all the members elected to 
that house shall agree' to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house, it 
shall be a law; but in such cases, the votes 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names of the members 
voting for or against the bill shall be enter¬ 
ed on the journal of each house respective¬ 
ly* If any bill shall not be returned by 
the governor within ten days, (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the general as¬ 
sembly by their adjournment, prevent its 
return—in which case it shall become a 
law, unless sent back within three days 
after their next meeting. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by inserting “three-fifths” instead of two- 
thirds, of the members elected. 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans;, said amendment was laid on the 
table indefinitely. 

Mr. Mayo then moved to amend said 
section by striking out the Words “unless 
sent back within three days after their next 
meeting,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
words “in which case it shall not be a 
law.” Which motion was lost. 

On motion the section was adopted, viz: 

Constitution of 1812. Sec. 20. “Every 
bill which shall have passed both houses 
shall be presented to the governor; if he 
approve, he shall sign it, if not, he shall 
return it, with his objections, to the house 
in which it shall have originated, who shall 





74 


t Tournal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


enter the objections at largo upon their 
journal, and proceed to re-consider it; if, 
after such re-consideration, two-thirds of 
all the members elected to that house shall 
agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with 
the objections, to the other house by which 
it shall be likewise re-considered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of all the members 
elected to that house, it shall be a law; but 
in such cases the votes of both houses shall 
be determined by yeas and nays, and the 
names of the members voting for and 
againnst the bill shall be entered on the 
journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall be returned by the govern¬ 
or within ten days, (Sundays excepted,) 
after it shall have been presented to him, 
it shall be a law in like manner as if he 
had signed it, unless the general assembly 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall be a law unless sent 
back within three days after their next 
meeting.” 

Section 21st of the constitution of 1812, 
viz: 

Sec. 21. “Every order, resolution or 
vote to which the concurrence of both 
houses may be necessary, except on a ques¬ 
tion of adjournment, shall be presented to 
the governor, and before it shall take effect, 
be approved by him, or being disapproved, 
shall be re-passed by two-thirds of both 
houses.” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Section 22d, of the constitution of 1812, 
viz: 

Sec. 22. “The free white men of this 
State shall be armed and disciplined for its 
defence; but those who belong to religious 
societies whose tenets forbid them to carry 
arms, shall not be compelled so to do, but 
shall pay an equivalent for personal ser¬ 
vices.” 

On motion said section was adopted. 

Section 23d of the constitution of 1812, 
viz: 

Sec. 23. “The militia of this State shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most expedient by the 
legislature.” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, the vote on the adoption of the 10th 
section of the constitution of 1812 was re¬ 
considered, and said section amended as 
follows: to insert in lieu of the word “legis¬ 


lature,” the word “Senate;” and on motion 
of Mr. Downs, were added at the end of 
the section the words “unless otherwise 
provided for in this constitution.” 

On motion, said section was adopted as 
amended, viz: 

Constitution of 1812. Sec. 10. “The 
governor shall have power to fill up vacan¬ 
cies that may happen during the recess of 
the senate, by granting commissions, which 
shall expire at the end of the next session, 
unless otherwise provided for in this con¬ 
stitution.” 

Mr. Ledoxjx submitted an additional 
section, the 21st section of the minority 
report made by Mr. Ledoux, viz: 

Sec. 21. “There shall be appointed by 
the governor, with the advice and consent 
of the senate, an auditor of state, whose duty 
it shall be to examine and approve all ac¬ 
counts before they are paid by the treasurer. 
He shall assist the legislature in examining 
the accounts of the treasurer; and perform) 
all other duties which may be required of 
him by law.” 

On motion of Mr. Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, said section was laid on the table 
subject to call. 

Mr. Downs moved to take up the report 
of the legislative committee, which motion 
prevailed. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Gar¬ 
cia and Soule absent on account of illness; 
Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Cade, Guion, 
Pugh, Scott of Madison and Splane absent 
on leave; Messrs. Chinn, Boudousquie, 
Grymes and Preston were not in their seats. 

Wednesday, February 26,1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion, Mr. Covillion was excused 
from attendance on account of illness. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SECOND OF THE MAJORITY REPORT 
AS AMENDED. 

Sect. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and beyond that, 
if entitled to any more, in proportion to the 
population of each, ascertained and calcu¬ 
lated according to the principle of repre¬ 
sentation adopted in the Constitution of the 
United States. 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The first representation under this con- 
stitution shall continue until after the next 
United States census in 1850, and shall 
be as follows: 

The parish of Plaquemines shall have 1 


u 


it 


St. Bernard, 

Orleans, 

First Municipality, 5 
Second “ 4 

Third “ 3 

That part of the parish of Orleans 
on the East bank of the Missis- 
sippi, 

The parish of Jefferson, 

St Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 
St. James, 
Ascension, 
Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 
Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East “ “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Pointe Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 

Lafayqfte, 

St. Landry, 
Calcasieu, 

Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 

Morehouse, 

Union, 

Caldwell, 

Catahoula, 

Claiborne, 

Bossier, 


tt 

it 

it 

it 

tt 

it 

tt 

It 

it 

it 

tt 

it 

tt 

it 

it 

a 

tt 

tt 

tt 

a 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 


tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

a 

tt 

tt 

tt 

n 

tt 

a 

tt 

a 


12 


1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 

3 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
I 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 

» 

1 

1 

2 
I 

1 

4 
1 

2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

'T 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Total, 72 


As soon as may be, after the United 
States census of 1850 shall have been taken 
and promulgated, and every ten years 
thereafter, the number of representatives 
shall be fixed and apportioned, according to 
the principles of this section, so as not to 
be less than seventy nor more than one hun¬ 
dred; and whenever a new parish shall be 
created, a separate representation shall at 
the same time be provided for it, which 
shall continue until the next decimal ap¬ 
portionment. 

Mr. Saunders, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee to whom was referred the said section, 
submitted the following report, as a substi¬ 
tute for the same, viz: 

Sec. 6. Each parish shall be entitled 
to representation in proportion to its popu¬ 
lation, ascertained and calculated according 
to the principle of representation adopted 
in the constitution of the United States; 
Provided , that no parish or city shall ever 
be en entitled to more than one-fifth of the 
whole number of representatives. 

Sec. 7. No new parish shall be created 
with an extent of territory less than 400 
square miles, nor with a population less 
than the full representative number required 
at the time of its creation, to entitle it to a 
representative; nor shall any parish be so 
divided as to leave it with a smaller area 
or population than is above expressed. 

Sec. 8. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the population ol this State, in such 
a manner as shall be prescribed by law, 
for the purpose of ascertaining the number 
of the federal population in each parish. 

Sec. 9. At the first regular session of 
the legislature after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parish¬ 
es on the basis of the federal population, as 
aforesaid, and in the manner following, to 
wit: some number shall be chosen as a re¬ 
presentative number, which, when applied 
in making the apportionment, shall give a 
number of representatives not less than 
seventy nor more than one hundred; the 
number so chosen shall be taken as a divi¬ 
sor, and each parish shall be entitled to one 
representative for every time this divisor 
shall be found in the dividend formed of its 
representative population, and to one addi¬ 
tional member for every fraction exceeding 
tho one-half of the divisor; and any parish 







7G 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


having a federal population less than the 
whole divisor, but exceeding one-half of it, 
shall be entitled to one representative; and 
the legislature shall be incompetent to act 
on any other subject matter, until the ap¬ 
portionment directed by this article shall 
have been made. 

Sec. 10. The first representation under 
this constitution (ascertained as near as 
may be, in accordance with the above 
principles,) shall continue until the first 
apportionment be made by the legisla¬ 
ture, and shall be as follows, viz: 

The parish of Plaquemines, 1 


a 

St. Bernard, 

1 

a 

Orleans, 

First Municipality 61 



Second “ 4 

Third “ 4J 

> 14 

tf 

Right Bank, 

X 

a 

Jefferson, 

2 

(( 

St. Charles, 

1 

a 

St* John the Baptist, 

1 

tt 

St. James, 

2 

a 

Ascension, 

2 

tt 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

1 

it 

Iberville, 

2 

<t 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

a 

East Baton Rouge, 

2 

t. 

West Feliciana, 

2 

a 

East “ 

2 

a 

St. Helena, 

1 

<( 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

Washington, 

1 

a 

St. Tammany, 

1 

a 

Point Coupee, 

1 

a 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Tensas, 

1 

tt 

Madison, 

1 

tt 

Carroll, 

1 

a 

Franklin, 

1 

a 

St. Mary, 

2 

tt 

St. Martin, 

2 

ft 

Vermillion, 

1 

tt 

Layfayette, 

1 

<4 

St. Landry, 

4 

it 

Calcasieu. 

1 

it 

Avoyelles, 

1 

it 

Rapides, 

3 

it 

Natchitoches, 

2 

tt 

Sabine, 

1 

tt 

Caddo, 

1 

tt 

De Soto, 

1 

<4 

Ouachita, 

1 


Morehouse, 1 

Union, 1 

Caldwell, 1 

Catahoula, 1 

Claiborne, 1 

Bossier, 1 


Total, 76 

Mr. Marigny moved that the whole mat¬ 
ter be laid on the table, and made the spe¬ 
cial order of the day for to-morrow at 12, 
m., which motion was lost. 

Mr. O’Bryan submitted the following 
as a substitute to the first section of the re¬ 
port, viz: 

“Each parish shall have one representa¬ 
tive, and beyond that if entitled to any more, 
in proportion to the number of voters in 
each; Provided , that no parish or city shall 
ever have more than one-sixth of the whole 
number of representatives.” 

On a question of order, the president de¬ 
cided said substitute to be out of order. 

Mr. O’Bryan then moved to amend said 
section by striking out the words “ its popu¬ 
lation ascertained and calculated according 
to [the principle of representation adopted 
in the constitution of the United States.” 

And, pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Co- 
villion, Garcia and Soule, absent on ac^ 
count of illness ; Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, 
Cade, Guion, Lewis, Pugh, Scott of Madi¬ 
son and Splane, absent on leave. 

Thursday, February 27, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad- 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Goodrich opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

0.n motion, Mr. Chinn was excused for 
non-attendance, on account of illness. 

Mr. Mayo, chairman of the committee 
on education, submitted the following re^ 
port and resolutions, viz; 

“As it is through the medium of educa¬ 
tion that the intellectual faculties of man 
are cultivated, and his physical and mental 
powers regulated and perfected, the subject 
would appear to justify as much attention 
and care as any other that can engage the 
attention of the legislator. 

“This State has for many years acted 
with a degree of liberality, in making ap- 






77 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


propriations for the errection and support 
of colleges and academies, and for the edu¬ 
cation of indigent children. 

“By the report of the State treasurer, da¬ 
ted 11th January, 1844, it appears that the 
sum of $1,710,559 40-100, from the year 
1812 to the 31st December, 1844, has been 
expended by the State for the support of 
public schools, colleges, academies, semi¬ 
naries and asylums; and by the same re¬ 
port it appears that $463,791 71-100, 
which is more than one-fourth of the whole 
sum, has been expended for the building 
and support of the colleges of Louisiana 
and Jefferson. The first of which is not 
now in operation; and owing to the want of 
a regular system of education, has not pro¬ 
duced results that ought to have been ex¬ 
pected from so large an amount of expen¬ 
diture. 

“The college of Jefferson is in operation, 
and has seventy or eighty students, as ap¬ 
pears from the report of the committee of 
of the house of representatives on the sub¬ 
ject of education, lately made to that body. 

“Tjie annual appropriation for that insti¬ 
tution being $10,000, the annual expendi¬ 
ture for each student, supposing the number 
to be eighty, is $125, paid by the State, 
in addition to all the expenses of tuition, 
board, &c., which is paid by individuals. 

“These facts are stated for no other pur¬ 
pose than to bring to view the dispropor¬ 
tion in the expenditure, and actual waste of 
public money for want of a well regulated 
system of education. 

“A large portion of the State is in a situa¬ 
tion, in relation to schools, which is truly 
to be lamented; produced by various causes, 
some of which are peculiar to local situa¬ 
tions where the population is extremely 
sparce, rendering it impracticable to sup¬ 
port schools in the nighborhood, for want 
of a sufficient number of children to attend 
them without sending them from home to 
board, which many persons of large fami¬ 
lies either have not the means to do, or if 
they have, are not disposed to appropriate 
them for that purpose, in other neighbor¬ 
hoods where schools could be supported if 
the people desired. No interest or zeal ap¬ 
pears to be felt on the subject, and children 
are permitted to grow up in ignorance, for 
want of a disposition on the part of the pa¬ 
rent to educate them. The money that 
has been expended for the support of schools 


has in many, if not a majority of the par¬ 
ishes, failed to produce the beneficial re¬ 
sults which were intended. Incompetent 
men have been employed as teachers, 
whose object has been to get the public 
money, more than to improve the children 
under their care; and when the public 
money, to which a school has been entitled, 
has been exhausted, the schools in many 
instances have been broken up, and no 
more taught in the neighborhood until 
another supply of money has been expect¬ 
ed from the State to pay the teacher. 

“Owing to facts like these, the children 
that have occasionally attended the schools 
have received, in many places, but little 
benefit from them. One of the causes of 
the failure in the expenditure of the funds 
of the State, distributed to the parishes 
generally, has been that indigent children 
only have been entitled to the benefits of 
the public funds. Men of the high senti¬ 
ments and noble feelings that characterize 
the citizens of this State feel a repugnance 
at the thought of educating their children 
by the use of a fund that none but the poor 
and needy can be partakers of. Hence it 
is believed that many persons, unable to 
educate their children at their own expense, 
have too much pride and feel that it would 
be humiliating to themselves and their chil¬ 
dren to partake of a bounty thus offered. 
When the fact of partaking furnishes of 
itself evidence of their poverty and indi¬ 
gence; and though this may to Some extent 
arise from false pride, still the fact exists, 
and the effect is the same as though the 
objection were a good one. Another cause 
of the failure has been that large expendi¬ 
tures have been made for building colleges 
and academies for the promotion of the 
higher branches of literature, before provi¬ 
ding the means for teaching the first rudi¬ 
ments of a common education. 

“The necessary steps ought first to be 
taken to place within the reach of the mass 
of the children throughout the State, such 
an education as will fit them for the higher 
branches, and in such a manner as to place 
all on an equal footing in the enjoyment of 
the benefits to be derived from the funds 
of the State. This would create a lauda¬ 
ble ambition between those whose progress 
and advancement would fit them for the 
higher schools; and thus the higher as well 
as the lower would be supported. The 



78 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


progress of the child in the acquisition of 
a substantial education, would emulate the 
parent; parents would encourage each other; 
and when the spirit of education could be 
fairly put into operation, it is believed that 
it would here, as it has done in many of 
the States of the United States, and in 
Prussia and Germany, carry with it public 
opinion, which in this country is all that 
is necessary to sustain any measure that 
promises to be permanently useful. 

“The people must see and feel the impor¬ 
tance of the subject, the necessity of action. 
The subject must receive their approbation; 
excite their interest and zeal; they must 
act together with their influence and money 
to carry it into operation. The public 
mind in this State has never been sufficient¬ 
ly aroused to the importance of educating 
the youth. Any system that may be or¬ 
ganised, not calculated to inlist the feelings 
and receive the cordial approbation and 
support of a majority of the citizens, cannot 
be relied upon to effect the object desired, 
viz: that of furnishing to the greatest num¬ 
ber of the rising generation, upon equal 
terms, the best education that the resources 
of the State, and of its citizens generally, 
will justify. 

“To overcome these difficulties would re¬ 
quire a system more in detail, that it would 
be proper to incorporate into the constitu¬ 
tion, and which would often have to be 
changed and improved, as circumstances 
and observation might require. 

“Provision ought to be made by the 
State for as large a fund for immediate use 
as its financial condition will permit, and 
also for a permanent fund for future use, 
large enough if possible to afford the means 
to all the children in the State of obtaining 
a knowledge of reading, writing and arith¬ 
metic; branches which are indispensably 
necessary to every citizen in his intercourse 
with his fellow man and with the world. 

“Your committee have, by a provision 
which they report herewith, endeavored to 
lay the foundation for a permanent fund, 
which will have the power of increase 
within itself; to meet the increase of chil¬ 
dren and of expenditure that improvements 
may require, as will be seen by the provi¬ 
sions reported. 

“A provision is also contained in the re¬ 
port providing for the appointment of a su¬ 
perintendent of education; the object of 

/ 


which is to secure an efficient officer whose 
sole business shall be to attend to the duties 
of that office, and who shall constitute the 
head of an organized school department of 
the State. By another section it is made 
the duty of the legislature to encourage the 
institution of common schools throughout 
the State, for the promotion of literature 
and the arts and sciences, and to provide 
means for their support. By enjoining the 
encouragement and support of education 
upon the legislature, it will be part of the 
duty which every member of that body will 
be sworn to perfonn, to give it attention. 

“The cultivation of the mental faculties 
for the promotion of wisdom, morality and 
virtue, is amongst the first duties of a State. 
The chief object of constitutions and laws 
being to render its citizens secure in their 
lives, liberty and property, the importance 
of a good education to each individuhl, to 
every community, and to the State, cannot 
be too highly valued. It is certainly of too 
great value to be estimated by any pecunia¬ 
ry consideration. 

“From the genius, nature and spirit of 
republican government, it is and must be 
based upon public opinion; which to be salu¬ 
tary in its operation must be virtuous and 
enlightened. 

“ The permanence of our institutions 
ever have, and must continue to depend 
upon the genius of our constitution and 
laws, sustained by that spirit of freedom 
which actuates ev 
American. 

“Upon education we may safely confide 
as the conservative power of the State, that 
will watch over our liberties and guard 
them against fraud, corruption, and decay. 

“Without morality, virtue and intelli¬ 
gence to regulate the genius a spirit of re¬ 
publicanism, the latter one constantly ex¬ 
posed to be swept away by the iron rule of 
ignorance and vice, when wielded by dema¬ 
gogues, to destroy our liberties. 

“Morality and virtue may exist without 
the peculiar culture of schools; but a man 
can hardly be said to be intelligent without 
knowing how to read, and without that kind 
of knowledge that generally has its source 
in an education acquired at school. With¬ 
out intelligence virtue and morality would 
cease to perform their legitimate functions, 
and to have that influence upon the body 
politic which it is necessary they should 


ery man who is truly an 



79 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


exert. Without these necessary ingre¬ 
dients to sustain the purity and harmony of 
our constitution and laws, unless the peo¬ 
ple know and appreciate their rights, and 
know how to maintain and protect them, 
the vicious and disorderly will protect and 
screen each other from the operation of the 
laws; the restraining influence of the social 
and political compact will be annihilated, 
and dissolution and ruin will be the inevi¬ 
table result. 

“There can be no security, the true spirit 
of liberty cannot exist where vice, ignorance 
and immorality predominate. 

“Where a right direction is given to the 
young and tender mind, correct principles 
inculcated and impulses given, morality, 
virtue and reason commence their reign, 
and with the necessary culture fit their pos¬ 
sessors to be useful to themselves, orna¬ 
ments to society, and safe-guards to the 
State. The strength of the State and the 
happiness of its people increase with the 
increase of useful knowledge. Without 
knowing their rights and duties men be¬ 
come dangerous to the State, nuisances to 
the community, and burdensome to them¬ 
selves. By laying the foundation of a sys¬ 
tem susceptible of being carried into practi¬ 
cal operation, and which will secure to the 
rising generation the means by which they 
may be educated. 

“The greatest degree of social and indi¬ 
vidual prosperity will be secured to our 
posterity, and a strong guarantee of protec¬ 
tion to our constitution and laws. 

“Louisiana should possess the means of 
educating her youths at home. Southern 
men should have southern heads and hearts, 
with sentiments untarnished by doctrines at 
war with our rights and liberties. It is 
of the first importance that correct impres¬ 
sions be made upon the minds of children, 
for it is difficult to unlearn what has been 
learned amiss. 

“When our children return from the 
north, after having received an education 
there, they have to be re-acclimated, and 
not unfrequently fall victims to the effects 
of the change. Many of the most promis¬ 
ing youths of the State have been swept 
away within a very short period after their 
return with an accomplished education, 
from the effects of a change of climate. 
Youths who were the fondest hopes of their 
parents, and promised to be ornaments, not 


only to them, but to the State, and whose 
loss to both is irreparable. 

“All this can be remedied by entering 
upon the work ourselves, with a determi¬ 
nation to accomplish it. A good education 
furnished to the rising generation, will af¬ 
ford us a better guarantee of protection 
than fleets and armies. Shall we not then 
be inexcusable for neglect to make the 
trial? 

“It is said that a man will give all he 
has for his life. If so, ought he not with 
equal readiness give the same price, if 
necessary, to secure his life, liberty and 
happiness, and the prospect of conferring 
upon his posterity the same blessings, en¬ 
riched and enobled by the highest degree 
of intellectual attainments? 

“All of which is respectfully submitted, 
together with the accompanying provisions 
and resolutions. 

(Signed.) “G. MAYO, 

“Chairman.” 

Report of the committee on the subject of 
education: 

Sec. 1 . “The governor shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice aud consent of 
the senate, appoint a superintendent of 
education, who shall hold his office for two 
years; whose duties shall be prescribed by 
law; and who shall receive such compen¬ 
sation as the legislature may direct.” 

Sec. 2. “The legislature shall encourage 
the institution of common schools through¬ 
out the State, for the promotion of literature 
and the arts and sciences, and shall provide 
means for that purpose and for their sup¬ 
port.” 

Sec. 3. “The proceeds of all lands that 
have been or hereafter may be granted by 
the United States to this State, for the use 
and support of schools, and of all land that 
may have been or may hereafter be granted 
by the United States, or by any person or 
persons, body politic or corporate, to this 
State, and not granted expressly for any 
other purpose, which shall hereafter be 
sold or disposed of, and all estates of de¬ 
ceased persons to which the State may 
be or hereafter become entitled by law, 
shall bo held by the State as a loan, and 
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, on 
which the State shall pay an annual interest 
of-—per cent, which interest together with all 
the rents of the unsold lands, shall be inviola¬ 
bly appropriated to the support of schools and 



80 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


institutions of learning throughout the State, 
until the rents or interest, or both together, 
shall amount to the sum of per 

annum, After which the 

annual excesss of such rents and interest 
may be applied by the legislature to other 
objects.” 

Sec. 4. “The funds arising from the 
rents or sales which may hereafter be made 
of any lands heretofore granted by the Uni¬ 
ted States to this State, for the use of a 
seminary of learning, and of any land that 
may hereafter be granted for that purpose, 
and any interest that may accrue upon 
such funds, shall be invoilably applied to 
the use specified, or that may be specified 
in the grant.” 

“And your committee recommend the 
adoption of the following resolution: 

“Resolved , That our representatives and 
senators in congress be requested to use 
their best efforts to procuie the passage of 
a law, granting to this State the unsold 
lands within this State, belonging to the 
United States, or as large a portion thereof 
as possible, for the purpose of edu¬ 
cation; and to co-operate, if necessary to 
effect that object, with the representatives 
and senators in congress from other States.” 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, said report and 
resolutions were laid on the table subject 
to call, and ordered to be printed. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the vote on 
the printing of the report was re-consider- 
cd, and only the printing of the resolution 
was ordered. 

This being the day fixed, the report of 
the Committee of revision was called up, 
viz: 

Section 2d of article 1st, as reported by 
the committee of revision. 

“No one of these departments, nor any 
person holding office in one of them, shall 
exercise power properly belonging to cither 
of ; the others, except in the instances here¬ 
inafter expressly directed or permitted.” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

The President submitted a letter of in¬ 
vitation from the Fire Department, and on 
motion of Mr. Roselius, the same was ac¬ 
cepted. 

Mr. Penn submitted the following reso- 
lution, viz: 

“ Resolved , That Wednesday, the 5th of 
March, at 1 o’clock, be, and the same is 
hereby fixed 1 for taking the vote on the ap¬ 
portionment.” 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 6th of the report of the special 
committee, composed of three members 
from each congressional district, viz: 

“Each parish shall be entitled to repre- 
sentation in portion to its population, ascer' 
tained and calculated according to the prin¬ 
ciple of representation adopted in the con¬ 
stitution of the United States. Provided , 
that no parish or city shall ever be entitled 
to more than one-fifth of the whole number 
of representatives.” 

The Convention at the last adjournment 
had under consideration the motion of Mr. 
O’Bryan to amend said section by striking 
out the words “its population ascertained 
and calculated according to the principle of 
representation adopted in the constitution 
ofthe United States.” 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at 11 o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Co- 
villion, Garcia and Soule, absent on account 
of illness, and Messrs. Cade, Guion, Lewis, 
^Scott of Madison and Splane, absent on 
leave. 


Friday, February 28, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Hon. delegate from Sabine, (Mr. 
Stephens) at^ the request of the president, 
opened the proceedings by prayer. 

On motion, Messrs. Burton and Garrett 
were excused for non-attendance on account 
of illness. 

ORDER OF THE DAY.. 

Section 6th, as reported by the commit¬ 
tee composed of three members from each 
congressional district, viz: 

“Each parish shall be entitled to repre¬ 
sentation according to its population, ascer¬ 
tained and calculated according to the prin¬ 
ciple of repsesentation adopted in the con¬ 
stitution of the United States; Provided , 
that no parish or city shall ever be entitled 
to more than one-fifth of the whole number 
of representatives.” 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words “ its popula¬ 
tion ascertained and calculated according 

o 

to the principle of representation adopted 
in the constitution of the United States.” 

Pending the discussion on said motion, 
Mr. Voorhies called up the resolution of¬ 
fered on yesterday, by IVfr. Penn, viz: 




81 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Resolved, That Wednesday, the 5th of 
March, at 1 o’clock, be and the same is 
hereby fixed for taking the vote oh the ap¬ 
portionment. 

On motion of Mr. Porter, said resolu¬ 
tion was laid on the table indefinitely. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, 2^ o’clock 
this day was fixed for the taking of the vote 
on the apportionment. 

The 7th section, as reported by said com¬ 
mittee of 12, was then called up, viz: 

“No new parish shall be created with an 
extent of territory less than four hundred 
square miles, nor with a population less 
than the full representative number required 
at the time of its creation, to entitle it to a 
representative; nor shall any parish be so 
divided as to leave it with a smaller area 
or population than is above expressed.” 

Mr. O’Bryan offered the following as a 
substitute' for said section, viz: 

“Each parish shall have one representa¬ 
tive, and beyond that, if entitled to any 
more, in proportion the number of voters 
in each; Provided, that no parish or city 
shall ever have more than one-sixth of the 
whole number of representatives.” 

On motion of Mr. Grymes, the section 
and substitute were laid on the table sub¬ 
ject to call. 

On motion of Mr. Porter, the rule fix¬ 
ing half-past 2 o’clock to-day, for taking the 
vote on the apportionment, was rescinded. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the Coriventiojn adjourn till Monday next, 
at 11 o’clock, a. m., which motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the Conven¬ 
tion adjourned till to-morrow at 11 o’clock, 
a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Bur¬ 
ton, Covillion and Garrett, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Cade, Guion, 
Lewis, Scott of Madison, and Splane absent 
on leave. 


Saturday, March 1, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Watkins opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 6th, as reported by the special 
committee, to whom the same was re¬ 
ferred, viz: 

“Each parish shall be entitled to repre¬ 
sentation in proportion to its population, 

11 


ascertained and calculated according to the 
principle of representation adopted in the 
constitution of the United States: Provided, 
that no parish or city shall ever be entitled 
to more than one-fifth of the whole number 
of representatives.” 

On the motion of Mr. O’Bryan to amend 
said section, by striking out the wqrds “its 
population ascertained and calculated ac¬ 
cording to the principle of representation 
adopted in the constitution of the United 
States,” the yeas and nays being called 
for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Cul¬ 
bertson , Eustis, Grymes, Humble, King, 
Ledoux, Legendre, McRae, Marigny, Ma- 
znreau , O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Soule ; Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—28 ayes; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Brent, Briant, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Derbes, Downs, Garrett, Huds - 
peth, Hynson, Mayo, Porche, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Roman, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers , Taylor of St. 
Landry, and TFadsworthx oted in the nega¬ 
tive—22 nays; consequently said motion 
was carried. 

Mr. O’Bryan then moved to fill the 
blank with the words “the number of elec¬ 
tors in it.” 

On motion, the Convention adjourned, 
till Monday next, at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note.— Members absent : Messrs. Co¬ 
villion and Garcia, absent on account of 
illness; Messrs. Cade, Guion, Lewis, Scott 
of Madison; and Splane, absent oil leave; 
and Messrs. Boudousquie, Dunn, Kenner, 
Labauve, Penn, Roselius, St. Amand, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist and Winchester, 
were absent from their seats. 


Monday, March 3, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Beatty opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion, Mr. Prescott of Avoyelles 
was excused for non-attendance on account 
of illness. 

On motion, leave of absence was granted 
Messrs. Ratliff, Hudspeth, King and Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry. 






82 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 
article second, section sixth, of the 

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE, AS 

AMENDED. 

Each parish shall be entitled to repre¬ 
sentation in proportion to-; Provided , 

that no parish or city shall ever be entitled 
to more than one-fifth of the whole number 
of representatives. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to fill the blank in 
said section with the words “ the number 
of qualified voters in it.” 

Mr. Downs submitted the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

“ Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State, and shall for ever be 
regulated and ascertained by the number of 
qualified electors therein; Provided , that no 
portion of the State now constituting one 
parish or city shall ever be entitled to more 
than twenty representatives, and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; and, Provided further , that no new 
parish shall be created with a territory less 
than four hundred square miles, nor with a 
number of electors less than the ratio at the 
time, nor when the creation of such new 
parish would leave any other parish without 
the said extent of territory and number of 
electors.” 

In the year -, and every four years 

thereafter, an enumeration of all the elec¬ 
tors shall be made in such manner as shall 
be directed by law. The number of repre¬ 
sentatives shall, in the several years of 
making these enumerations, or during the 
next succeeding session of the general as¬ 
sembly, be so fixed, according to the prin¬ 
ciple of this section, as not to be less than 
eighty, nor more than one hundred; Pro¬ 
vided, that the general assembly shall be 
incompetent to pass any law after the enu¬ 
meration until the apportionment shall be 
made. 

Until the first enumeration shall be made, 
as directed in this section, the parish of Or¬ 
leans shall be entitled to twenty representa¬ 
tives, to be elected as follows: eight by the 
1st municipality, eight by the 2d munici¬ 
pality, three by the 3d municipality, and one 
for that part of the parish on the right bank 


of the Mississippi: 20 

The parish of Plaquemines, 2 

“ St. Bernard, 1 

Jefferson, 3 

“ St. Charles, 1 


e Parish of St. John the Baptist, 

1 

<« 

St. James, 

2 

t< 

Ascension, 

2 

tt 

Assumption, 

2 

ti 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

tt 

Terrebonne, 

2 

tt 

Iberville, 

2 

tt 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

tt 

East “ “ 

3 

tt 

West Feliciana, 

2 

t. 

East “ 

3 

tt 

St. Helena, 

1 

tt 

Livingston, 

1 

tt 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

1 ' 

tt 

1 

tt 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

tt 

Concordia, 

1 

tt 

Tensas, 

1 

tt 

Madison, 

I 

tt 

Carroll, 

1 

tt 

Franklin, 

I 

tt 

St. Mary, 

2 

u 

St. Martin, 

3 

it 

Vermillion, 

1 

ti 

Lafayette, 

2 

t. 

St. Landry, 

5 

it 

Calcasieu, 

Avoyelles, 

1 

tt 

2 

tt 

Rapides, 

4 

tt 

Natchitoches, 

4 

ft 

Sabine, 

2 

ti 

Caddo, 

1 

tt 

De Soto, 

1 

tt 

Ouachita, 

1 

tt 

Morehouse, • 

I 

tt 

Union, 

1 

tt 

Jackson, 

1 

ft 

Caldwell, 

1 

ft 

Claiborne, 

1 

ft 

Bossier, 

Total, 

1 

97 

On motion 

l of Mr. Downs, the printing 

the above 

substitute was ordered, and 


the consideration of the same postponed 
until printed. 

Mr. Guion moved to fill the blank in 
said section with the words “according to 
the qualified electors, together with the tax¬ 
able property which it may contain.” 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to lay the 
amendments on the table, which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Wadsworth gave notice that he 
would, on Wednesday next, move the re¬ 
consideration of the vote given on the fed¬ 
eral basis. 






83 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The yeas and nays being called for on 
the amendment of Mr. Guion, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Aubert , Bourg , Chinn, Guion, 
Labauve, Legendre, Mazureau, Pugh, .Ro- 
maw, Roselius, St.Amand , Saunders , >Sco/£ 
of Baton Rouge, Sellers and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—15 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin, Brazeale, 
J5 re»£, Brianl, Brumfield, Burton , Oar- 
rierc, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne , Covil- 
lion , Culbertson, Derbes , Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett , Humble , Hynson, Kenner, 
Leonard, Ale Rae, Marigny, Mayo, O' 1 Bryan, 
Peets, Porchc, Porter, Prescott of St. Lan- 
dry,Preston, Read, Scott of Feliciana, $coW 
of Madison, Soule, Stephens, Voorhies, 
Waddill, TVadswortli, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff voted in the negative—41 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Sellers offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, to fill the blank with the words 
“whole population.” The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Cliinn, 
Derbes, Dunn, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, 
Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Scott of Felicia¬ 
na, Ncoft of Madison, Sellers, Wadsworth 
and kUmder voted in favor of the substitute— 
17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bri- 
ant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Legendre, Leon¬ 
ard, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Porche, Prescott of 
St.Landry, Preston,Prudhomme,Read, Ro¬ 
selius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Soule, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt and Wikoff voted against the sub¬ 
stitute—41 nays; consequently the same 
was lost. 

Mr. Chinn moved that the first part of 
said section, fixing the basis of representa¬ 
tion, be laid on the table subject to call; 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. O’Bryan then called for the yeas 
and nays on the motion offered by him on 
Saturday last, to fill the blank with the 
words “the number of qualified electors in 
it,” which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Covillion, Culbertson , Downs. Eustis , Gar¬ 


rett, Humble, Hynson, Legendre, Leonard , 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau , O'Bry¬ 
an, Peets , Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Read, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Soule, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad¬ 
dill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the 
affirmative—38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Briant, 
Chinn, Derbes, Dunn , Guion, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Porche, Pugh, Roman, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Ma¬ 
dison, Sellers and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—18 nays; consequently the motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Downs then moved that the matter 
under consideration be postponed till to¬ 
morrow; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs then called up the substitute 
submitted by him this morning, and ordered 
to be printed, and offered the same as a 
substitute for said section, viz: 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and shall forever 
be regulated and ascertained by the num¬ 
ber of qualified electors therein; Provided , 
that no portion of the State now constituting 
one parish or city, shall ever be entitled to 
more than twenty representatives, and that 
each parish shall have at least one repre¬ 
sentative; and provided further, that no new 
parish shall be created with a territory less 
than four hundred square miles, nor with a 
number of electors less than the ratio at 
the time, nor when the creation of such 
new parish would leave any other parish 
without the said extent of territory and num¬ 
ber of electors. In the year --, and ev¬ 

ery four years thereafter, an enumeration 
of all the electors shall be made, in such 
manner as shall be directed by law. The 
number of representatives shall, in the sev¬ 
eral years of making Ihese enumerations, 
or during the next succeeding session of the 
general assembly, be so fixed, according 
to the principles of this section, as not to 
be less than eighty, nor more than one 
hundred; Provided, that the general assem¬ 
bly shall be incompetent to pass any laws 
after the enumeration, until the apportion¬ 
ment shall be made. Until the first enu¬ 
meration shall be made, as directed in this 
section, the parish of Orleans shall be en¬ 
titled to twenty representatives, to be elec¬ 
ted as follows: eight by the First Munici¬ 
pality ; eight by the Second Municipality • 





84 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


three by the Third Municipality, and one 
by that part of the parish on the right bank 
of the Mississippi : 20 


parish or Plaquemines, 

‘2 

a 

St. Bernard, 

1 

n 

Jefferson, 

3 

u 

St. Charles, 

1 

it 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 

a 

St. James, 

2 

it 

Ascension, 

2 

it 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

2 

u 

Iberville, 

2 

n 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

it 

East “ “ 

3 

u 

West Feliciana, 

2 

a 

East “ 

3 

a 

St. Helena, 

1 

n 

Livingston, 

1 

it 

4 

W ashington, 

1 

it 

St. Tammany, 

1 

a 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

n 

Concordia, 

. 1 

a 

Tensas, 

1 

a 

Madison, 

I 

tt 

Carroll, 

1 

it 

Franklin, 

1 

u 

St. Mary, 

2 

a 

St. Martin, 

3 

a 

Vermillion, 

1 

u 

Lafayette, 

2 

a 

St. Landry, 

5 

a 

Calcasieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

2 

u 

Rapides, 

4 

a 

Natchitoches, 

4 

a 

Sabine, 

2 

a 

Caddo, 

1 

a 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

1 

tt 

Morehouse, 

1 

a 

Union, 

1 

n 

Jackson, 

1 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

*t 

Catahoula, 

2 

tt 

Claiborne, 

2 

a 

Bossier ^ 

I 


Total, 97 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, said substi¬ 
tute was laid on the table. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by striking ont the word “fifth,” and insert 
in lieu thereof the word “ sixth.” 

Mr. Marigny moved that said motion to 


strike out be postponed till Thursday next. 
On a question of order, the president (Mr. 
Labauve in the chair) decided the motion 
to be out of order. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend by 
striking out the proviso in said section. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Gar¬ 
cia and Prescott of Avoyelles, absent on 
account of illness; Messrs. Cade, Hudspeth, 
King, Lewis, Ratliff, Splane and Taylor of 
St. Landry, absent on leave; and Messrs. 
Boudousquie and Penn were not in their 
seats. 


Tuesday, March 4, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

This being the day fixed for the re-con¬ 
sideration of the vote given on the adoption 
of section 3d of article 3d; on the motion of 
Mr. Mayo, said section was called up, viz: 

Sec. 3. “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five years, and has not been fifteen 
years a free white male citizen of the Uni¬ 
ted States, and of this State next preceding 
his election.” 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, said section was 
laid on the table, subject to call. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 6th of the report of the commit¬ 
tee to whom the same was referred, and as 
amended, viz: 

“Each parish shall be entitled to repre¬ 
sentation in proportion to the number of 
qualified electors in it; provided that no par¬ 
ish or city sh^ll ever be entitled to more 
than one-fifth of tlje whole number of re¬ 
presentatives.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
seetion by striking out entirely the proviso. 

On motion of Mr. Saunders the follow¬ 
ing project, submitted by him, was taken 
under consideration, together with said sec¬ 
tion, viz: 

“Until the first election after the month 
of January 1855, the members of the house 
of representatives shall be elected in the 
following manner: 

“Every parish may elect one member, 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana > 85 


and 7000 inhabitants, (including slaves,) 
shall be the mean increasing number 
which shall entitle a parish to an additional 
representative. 

“And to prevent the house of representa¬ 
tives becoming too numerous, the mean in¬ 
creasing number shall be proportionally 
increased in the year of our Lord one thou¬ 
sand eight hundred and fifty-five, and every 
tenth year afterwards; so that the house of 
representatives shall never consist of more 
than one hundred members. 

“Every parish which shall hereafter be 
established, shall be entitled to elect one 
representative, when it shall contain 7000 
inhabitants, and not before; and until the 
year 1855 the representation shall be as 
follows, viz: 

The parish of Ascension, 2 

Assumption, 2 

Avoyelles, 2 

Baton Rouge, East, 2 

do West, 1 

Bernard, St., 1 

Bossieur, 1 

Caddo, 1 

Calcassieu, 1 

C aldwell, 1 

Carroll, 1 

Catahoula, 1 

Charles, St., 1 

Claiborne, 1 

Concordia, 2 

Desoto, 1 

Feliciana, East, 2 

do West, 2 

Franklin, ? 1 

Helena, St., 1 

Iberville, 2 

James, St., 2 

Jefferson, 2 

John Baptist, St., I 

Lafourche Interior, 2 

Lafayette, 1 

Landry, St., 3 

Livingston, 1 

Madison, 1 

Martin, St. 2 

Mary, St., 2 

Morehouse, I 

Natchitoches, 2 

Orleans, 15 

Ouachita 1 

Plaquemines, . 1 

Point Coupee, 2 

Rapides, 3 


a 

a 


a 


a 

a 

a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 

a 

a 

(4 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 


44 


44 


The Parish of Sabine, 1 

“ Tammany, St., 1 

“ Tensas, 1 

's, “ Terrebonne, 1 

“ Union, 1 

“ Vermillion, 1 

“ Washington, 1 

“ Jackson, 1 


Total, 79 

On motion of Mr. Downs, said project 
was ordered to be printed. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the section un¬ 
der consideration and project were laid on 
the table, and made the special order of the 
day for to-morrow at 12 o’clock, m. 

Mr. Mayo then moved the re-considera¬ 
tion of the vote on the adoption of section 
3d of article 3d, viz: 

“No person shall be eligible to the office 
of governor or lieutenant governor who 
shall not have attained the age of thirty-five 
years, and has not been fifteen years a free 
white male citizen of the United States, 
and of this State next preceding his elec¬ 
tion.” 

Mr. Guion called for the yeas and nays 
on the motion to re-consider, which result- 
ed as follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
McRae, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Read, Scott of Raton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Ste¬ 
phens, Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the affirmative— 30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Guion, Kenner, Legendre, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
negative—28 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Marigny obtained leave to change 
his vote. 

Mr. McCallop having voted in the ne¬ 
gative through mistake, moved that he be 
permitted to change his vote, and the yeas 
and nays being called, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Covillion, Downs, 






86 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, Ledoux, Leonard, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porclie, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Pugh,Read,Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule,Stephens,Taylor of Assumption,Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi- 
koffvoted in the affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Guion, Legendre, Mazu- 
reau, Roman, St. Amand and Winder voted 
in the negative—18 nays; consequently 
the same was granted. 

Mr. Mayo then moved to amend said 
section 3d by striking out the word “fif¬ 
teen,” and insert in lieu thereof the word 
“ten.” 

On motion of Mr. Sauners; the taking 
of the vote on the motion to strike out the 
word “fifteen,” and insert in lieu thereof 
the word “ten,” was postponed until two 
o’clock. 

Mr. Benjamin informed the Convention 
that he would, before the adjournment this 
day, submit a project of compromise 
on the question of apportionment, taking 
the whole population, including slaves, for 
the basis; which he moved might be print¬ 
ed, and taken up to-morrow with the pro¬ 
ject offered by Mr Saunders. On the ques¬ 
tion to receive the project and print the 
same, the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Grymes, 
Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Voorhies, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—52 yeas; and 

Messrs. Burton, Marigny, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Preston, Read, Roselius, Waddill and We¬ 
derstrandt voted jn the negative—9 nays; 
consequently the said project was received 
and ordered to be printed. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the Convention 
then took under consideration the 10th sec¬ 


tion of article 2d, as reported by the majori¬ 
ty, viz: 

“The State shall be divided into eight 
senatorial districts, each of which shall 
elect four senators, to be voted for by the 
persons entitled to vote for representatives, 
as follows: 

“All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

“The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and the remainder of the parish of 
Orleans, parish of Jefferson, St. Charles 
and St. John the Baptist, shall compose 
the second district. 

“The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Terre¬ 
bonne, shall compose the third district. 

“The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rogue, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

“The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston shall compose the 
fifth district. 

“The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten¬ 
sas, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell, 
shall compose the sixth district. 

“The parishes of Rapides, Natchi¬ 
toches, Caddo, Calcassieu,[] Claiborne, Sa¬ 
bine, Bossieur and De Soto, shall compose 
the seventh district. 

“The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, shall 
compose the eighth district. 

“Pi’ovided, That the Legislature shall 
have the power, in any year in which they 
shall apportion representation in the house 
of representatives, to divide any one or 
more of said senatorial districts, each to be 
entitled to elect two senators.” 

Mr. Downs moved to strike out said sec¬ 
tion 10th from the report of the majority. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the hour of two having arrived, Mr. 
Mayo moved that the vote be taken on his 
motion to strike out from the 3d section of 
article 3d, the words “fifteen,” and insert 
in lieu thereof the words “ten,” and the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, 



87 


Journal of llie Convention of Louisiana. 


McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porclic, Porter, Preston, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Trist, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Garcia, Grymes, ,Guion, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Mazureau,Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, WikofF, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—34 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo then moved the re-adoption of 
the said section 3d, viz: 

Sec. 3. “No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five years, and has not been fifteen 
years a free white male citizen of the Uni- 
ted States, and of this State next preceding 
his election.” 

Which motion prevailed. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned, 
till to-morrow, at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note.' —Members absent: Mr. Prescott 
of Avoyelles, absent on account of illness; 
Messrs. Cade, Hudspeth, King, Lewis, 
Ratliff, Splane, and Taylor of St. Landry, 
absent on leave; and Mr. Penn was not in 
his seat. 


Wednesday, March 5, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the president, opened the proceedings 
by prayer. 

Agreeably to notice given by Mr. Wads¬ 
worth, on Monday last, this day was fixed 
for the re-consideration of the vote on the 
federal basis. 

On motion of Mr. Claiborne, the said 
motion was laid on the table subject to call. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved for 
the reconsideration of the vote laying on 
the table subject to call; which motion was 
lost. 

Next in order came the section 10th of 
the majority report on the legislative de¬ 
partment, viz: 


Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 
eight senatorial districts, each of which 
shall elect four senators, to be voted for by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives, 
as follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the East side of the rivcrMissis- 
sippi, shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and the remainder ot the parish of Or¬ 
leans, parish of Jefferson, St. Charles, and 
St. John the Baptist, shall compose the sec¬ 
ond district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Terre¬ 
bonne, shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten¬ 
sas, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell y 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Provided , that the legislature shall have 
the power, in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be en¬ 
titled to elect two senators. 

And pending the discussion on said sec¬ 
tion, the hour of 12 o’clock, m., having ar¬ 
rived, the’special order of the day was then 
called up, viz: 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 6th of the report of the special 
committee as amended, viz: 

“Each parish shall be entitled to repre¬ 
sentation in proportion to the number of 
qualified electors in it; Provided , that no 
parish or city shall ever be entitled to more 
than one-fifth of the whole number of repre¬ 
sentatives.” 

At the adjournment yesterday, the ques- 




88 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


tion under debate was the motion of Mr. 
Benjamin, to strike out the proviso. 

Agreeably to the order taken by the Con¬ 
vention, the projects offered by Messrs. 
Downs, Saunders and Benjamin were di¬ 
rected to be read, after the reading of the 
6th section as reported by the special com¬ 
mittee. 

Project submitted by Mr. Downs, viz : 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and shall forever 
be regulated and ascertained by the number 
of qualified electors therein; Provided , that 
no portion of the State now constituting one 
parish or city shall ever be entitled to more 
than twenty representatives, and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; and provided further , that no new 
parish shall be created with a territory less 
than four hundred square miles, nor with a 
number of electors less than the ratio at the 
time, nor when the creation of such new 
parish would leave any other parish with¬ 
out the said extent of territory and number 

of electors. In the year --, and every 

four years thereafter, an enumeration of all 
the electors shall be made in such manner 
as shall be directed by law. The number 
of representatives shall, in the several 
years of making these enumerations, or 
during the next succeeding session of the 
general assembly, be so fixed, according to 
the principles of this section, as not to be 
less than eighty, nor more than one hun¬ 
dred; Provided , that the general assembly 
shall be incompetent to pass any laws after 
the enumeration until the apportionment 
shall be made. Until the first enumeration 
shall be made, as directed in this section, 
the parish of Orleans shall be entitled to 
twenty representatives, to be elected as fol¬ 
lows: 

Eight by the First Municipality; eight by 
the Second Municipality; three by the Third 
Municipality, and one by that part of the 
parish on the right bank of the Missis¬ 
sippi : 20 

The parish of Plaquemines, 2 

“ St. Bernard, 1 

“ Jefferson, 3 

“ St Charles, 1 

St. John the Baptist, 1 
“ St. James, 2 

Ascension, 2 

Assumption, 2 


The Parish of Lafourche Interior, 

2 

tt 

Terrebonne, 

2 

it 

Iberville, 

2 

it 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

it 

East “ “ 

3 

it 

West Feliciana, 

2 

it 

East “ 

3 

it 

St. Helena, 

1 

it 

Livingston, 

1 

it 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, * 

I 

it 

1 

it 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

if 

Concordia, 

1 

it 

Tensasy 

I 

tt 

Madison, 

I 

it 

Carroll, 

i 

it 

Franklin, 

l 

it 

St. Mary, 

2 

tt 

St. Martin, 

3 

it 

Vermillion, 

1 

.i 

Lafayette, 

2 

it 

St. Landry, 

5 

it 

Calcasieu, 

1 

it 

Avoyelles, 

2 

ti 

Rapides, 

4 

it 

JNatchitoches, 

4 

it 

Sabine, , 

2 

it 

Caddo, 

1 

it 

De Soto, 

1 

it 

Ouachita, 

1 

it 

Morehouse, 

1 

ii 

Union, 

1 

it 

Jackson* 

t 

it 

Caldwell, 

1 

tt 

Catahoula, 

2 

tt 

Claiborne, 

2 

it 

Bossier, 

Total, 

1 

97 


Project submitted by Mr. Saunders, viz: 

Until the first election after the month of 
January, 1855, the members of the house 
of representatives shall be elected in the 
following manner: 

Every parish may elect one member, and 
7000 inhabitants (including slaves) shall be 
the mean increasing number which shall 
entitle a parish to an additional representa¬ 
tive. And to prevent the house of repre¬ 
sentatives becoming too numerous, the 
mean increasing number which shall enti¬ 
tle a parish to elect more than one member, 
shall be proportionably increased in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hurt, 
died and fifty-five, and every tenth year af. 
terwards, so that the house of representa. 




89 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


fives shall never consist of more than one 
hundred members. 

Every parish which shall hereafter be 
established, shall be entitled to elect one 
representative, when it shall contain 7000 
inhabitants, and not before; and until the 
year 1855,|the representation shall be as 
follows, viz: 

The parish of Ascensiotf, 

Assumption, 

Avoyelles, 

Baton Rouge, East, 

“ 44 West, 

St. Bernard, 

Bossier, 

Caddo, 

Calcasieu, 

C aldwell, 

Carroll, 

Catahoula, 

St. Charles, 

Claiborne, 

Concordia, 

Desoto, 

Feliciana, East, 

“ West, 

Franklin, 

St. Helena, 

Iberville, 

St. James, 

Jackson, 

Jefferson, 

St. John the Baptist, 
Lafourche Interior, 

Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 

Livingston, 

Madison, 

St. Martin, 

St. Mary, 

Morehouse, 

Natchitoches, 

Orleans, 

Ouachita 
Plaquemines, 

Point Coupee, 

Rapides, 

Sabine, 

St. Tammany, 

Tensas, 

Terrebonne, 

Union, 

Vermillion, 

Washington, 


44 


u 

u 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 

44 

44 

44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


<4 


2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
3 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 

15 

1 

1 

2 

3 

I 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


Total, 79 


12 


Project submitted by Mr. Benjamin, viz:, 

Sec. 1. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation accord¬ 
ing to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every tenth 
year thereafter, a census shall be made of the 
population of this State, in such a manner 
as shall be prescribed by law, for the pur¬ 
pose of ascertaining the number of the fed¬ 
eral population in each parish. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of the 
legislature after the making of each census, 
the legislature shall apportion the represen¬ 
tation amongst the several parishes on the 
basis of the federal population, in the man¬ 
ner following, viz : Some number shall be 
chosen as a representative number, which, 
when applied in making the apportionment, 
shall give a number of representatives not 
less than seventy, nor more than one hun¬ 
dred; the number so chosen shall be taken 
as a divisor, and each parish shall be en¬ 
titled to one representative for every time 
that the divisor shall be contained in the 
dividend formed of its total population, and 
to one additional number from every frac¬ 
tion exceeding the one-half of the divisor; 
and any parish having a total population 
less than the whole divisor, but exceeding 
one-half of it, shall be entitled to one re¬ 
presentative; and the legislature shall be in¬ 
competent to act on any other subject mat¬ 
ter till the apportionment directed by this 
article shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple, by assuming 4500 as a representa¬ 
tive number) shall continue until the first 
apportionment shall be made by the legis¬ 


lature, and shall be as follows: 

First Municipality, 9 

Second Municipality, 8 

Third Municipality, 5 

West Bank, 1 

The parish of Plaquemines, 1 

“ St. Bernard, 1 

“ Jefferson, 2 

44 St. Charles, 1 

44 St. John the Baptist, I 

44 St. James, 2 

** Ascension, 2 

“ Assumption, 2 

44 Lafourche Interior, 2 

44 Terrebonne, 2 






90 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana' 


The Parish of Iberville, 

“ West Baton Rouge, 
East Baton Rouge, 
West Feliciana, 
East “ 

St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcasieu.. 
Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine-, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 
Morehouse, 
Jackson, 

Union, 

Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 

Bossier, 


<» 

a 

.4 

a 

a 

t; 
tt 
46 
44 
6 4 
64 
64 
66 
6 4 
(6 
46 
66 
46 
64 
66 
66 
6 4 
66 
6 6 
66 
66 
66 
6 6 
66 
64 


.6 


O 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

4 

1 

1 

3 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


ber, which, when applied in making the 
apportionment, shall giye a number of repre¬ 
sentatives not less than seventy, nor more 
than one hundred; the number so chosen 
shall be taken as a divisor, and each par¬ 
ish shall be entitled to one representative 
for every time that the divisor shall be con¬ 
tained in the dividend formed of its total 
population, and to one additional number 
from every fraction exceeding the one-half 
of the divisor; and any parish having a total 
population less than the whole divisor, but 
exceeding one-half of it, shall be entitled 
to one representative; and the legislature 
shall be incompetent to act on any other 
subject matter till the apportionment here¬ 
in directed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple by assuming 4500 as a representative 
number) shall continue until the first ap¬ 
portionment shall be made by the legisla¬ 
ture, and shall be as follows : 


Total, 86 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, the project of¬ 
fered by Mr. Benjamin was first taken in 
consideration, viz: 

Sec. 1. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation, according 
to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parish¬ 
es on the basis of the whole population, in 
the manner following, viz : Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative num¬ 


First Municipality, 

9 

Second 

66 

8 

Third 

44 

5 

West Bank, 

1 

Parish of 

Plaquemines, 

1 

44 

St. Bernard, 

1 

6 6 

Jefferson, 

2 

66 

St. Charles, 

1 

66 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 

64 

St. James, 

2 

(W 

Ascension, 

2 

46 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

66 

2 

66 

Terrebonne, 

2 

66 

Iberville, 

2 

64 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

64 

East “ “ 

2 

66 

West Feliciana, 

2 

66 

East “ 

2 

66 

St. Helena, 

1 

66 

Livingston, 

1 

66 

W ashington, 

1 

64 

St. Tammany, 

1 

64 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

66 

Concordia, 

1 

66 

Madison, 

1 

46 

Carroll, 

1 

46 

Franklin, 

2 

46 

St. Mary, 

1 

66 

St. Martin, 

2 

64 

Vermillion, 

1 

46 

Lafayette, 

1 








91 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The Parish of St. Landry, 

“ Calcasieu, 

Avoyelles, 
Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 
Caddo, 

De Soto, 
Ouachita, 
Morehouse, 
Union, 
Jackson, 
Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 
Bossier, 


u 

a 

ti 

a 

a 

it 

ii 

a 

u 

<( 

ti 

ti 

ti 

ti 


4 

2 

3 

3 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


Total, 86 

Mr, O’Bryan then moved that the pro¬ 
ject be laid on the table indefinitely. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles and Trist, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Cade. Hud¬ 
speth, King, Lewis, Ratliff, Splane and 
Taylor of St. Landry, absent on leave, and 
Mr. Penn was not in his seat. 


Thursday, March 6, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion, Mr. Guion was excused, on 
account of severe illness in his family. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The project submitted by Mr. Benjamin 
on the Apportionment, viz : 

Sec. 1. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation according 
to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes 
on the basis of the whole population, in the 
manner following, viz: Some number shall 
be chosen as a representative number, 


w 

which, when applied in making the appor¬ 
tionment, shall give a number of represen- 
tives not less than seventy, nor more than 
one hundred; the number so chosen shall 
be taken as a divisor, and each parish shall 
be entitled to one representative for every 
time that the divisor shall be contained in 
the dividend formed of its total population, 
and to one additional number from every 
fraction exceeding the one-half of the di¬ 
visor; and any parish having a total popu¬ 
lation less than the whole divisor, but ex¬ 
ceeding one half of it, shall be entitled to 
one representative; and the legislature shall 
be incompetent to act on any other subject 
matter till the apportionment herein di¬ 
rected shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple by assuming 4500 as a representative 
number,) shall continue until the first ap¬ 
portionment shall be made by the legisla¬ 
ture, and shall be as follows : 


First Municipality, 

9 

Second 

do, 

8 

Third 

do, 

5 

West bank, 

1 

parish of 

Plaquemines, 

I 

<< 

St. Bernard, 

1 

a 

Jefferson, 

2 

a 

St. Charles, 

1 

a 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 

a 

St. James, 

2 

it 

Ascension, 

2 

a 

Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

o 

a 

Iberville, 

2 

a 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

a 

East “ “ 

2 

a 

West Feliciana, 

,2 

i. 

East “ 

2 

a 

St. Helena, 

1 

a 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

Washington, 

1 

a 

St. Tammany, 

I 

t> 

Pointe Coupee, 

I 

a 

Concordia, 

I 

a 

Madison, 

1 

a 

Carroll, 

1 

a 

Franklin, 

1 

H 

St. Mary, 

2 

a 

Sf. Martin, 

2 

a 

Vermillion, 

1 

u 

Lafayette, 

l 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


92 

The Parish of St. Landry, 4 

44 Calcasieu, 1 

“ Avoyelles, 1 

44 Rapides, 3 

“ Natchitoches, 3 

“ Sabine, X 

44 Caddo, 1 

44 De Soto, 1 

44 Ouachita, 1 

44 Morehouse, 1 

“ Union, X 

44 Jackson, 1 

44 Caldwell, 1 

44 Catahoula, 1 

44 Claiborne, 1 

44 Bossier, 1 

Total, 86 

Mr. O’Bryan moved that the said pro¬ 
ject be laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the taking of the vote on the motion 
of Mr. O’Bryan to lay indefinitely on the 
table the project of Mr. Benjamin, be post¬ 
poned until to-morrow at 2 o’clock, p. m.; 
and the yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brent, Briant, Carriere, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson 
Derbes, Dunn,Garrett, Grymes, Hynson, Le¬ 
gendre, Leonard , Me Calloy, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mazureau , Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomrne, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Stephens , 
Taylor of Assumption, Wedersirandt, and 
Wikoff— 38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazcale, Burton, Chambliss , 
Covillion, Humble, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Scott of Madison, Waddill, 
and Wadsworth —13 nays. Consequently 
said motion was carried. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, then called 
up the following section, submitted by Mr. 
Scott of Baton Rouge, viz : 

Sec. — The seat of government shall 
from and after the year be per¬ 

manently located out of the city of New 
Orleans, and not within a distance of 
miles from the said city. 

Mr. Humble moved to postpone said 
section until the Convention take under 
consideration the general provisions, which 
motion was lost. 


Mr. Chinn then offered the following 
substitute, viz : 

A.t the first session of the legislature after 
the adoption of this constitution, a law 
shall be passed locating the seat of govern¬ 
ment at the town of Baton Rouge, in the 
parish of East Baton Rouge. 

Mr. Winder submitted the following 
substitute, viz: 

Resolved, That the first general assem¬ 
bly to be elected under this constitution, 
shall determine upon the place where the 
seat of government of this State shall be 
permanently located from and after the first 
day of January, 1850; provided, that it 
be not fixed in the city of New Orleans, 
nor less than sixty miles from the same, 
by the usual route of travelling; 

Mr. Voorhies submitted the following 
substitute, viz: 

At the first session of the legislature un¬ 
der this constitution, a law shall be passed 
to fix a suitable location for the seat of gov¬ 
ernment of this State, which shall take 
effect in the year 1850; and shall not be 
subject to any change before the year 
1870, and every twenty years thereafter, 
if deemed proper and expedient, 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question; the president then put the ques¬ 
tion—“Shall the main question be now 
put ?” which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Voorhies then moved to lay indefi¬ 
nitely on the table the said section, and 
the yeas and najs being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Car - 
riere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Eus- 
tis, Garcia , Ledoux, Legendre , Marigny, 
Mazureau, Porche, Preston, Roman, Ro - 
selius, St. Amand, Soule, Voorhies, Wads- 
worth, and Winchester —23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale , 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Leonard, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott St. Landry, Prudhomrne, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddill, Wederstrandt , Wikoff, 
and Winder —40 nays. The motion was 
therefore lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved to fill the blank with 
44 1849,”and the yeas and nays being called 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 93 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Covillion, 
Garrett, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Leon¬ 
ard, McRae, Mayo, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Pugh, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wikoff voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—25 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Derbes, Dawns, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Humble, Ledoux, Legendre, Me Cal- 
lop, Marigny, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Mad¬ 
ison, Sellers, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Weder- 
strandt Winchester and Winder voted in the 
negative—37 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Wederstrandt then moved to fill 
the blank with “1848;” the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
B rumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Co¬ 
villion, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Leonard, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter,Prescott of St. Land ry, Preston , Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and 
Winder voted in the affirmative — 39 yeas; 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Der¬ 
bes, Eustis, Garcia, Ledoux, Legendre, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mazureau, Porche, Prudhomme, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, and Winchester voted in the 
negative—25 nays;said motion was carried. 

Mr. Marigny moved that the Con¬ 
vention adjourn till to-morrow at 11 oclock 
a. m., and the yeas and nays being called 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Ken¬ 
ner, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Ale Gallop, 
AIcRae, Marigny, Alazureau, O’Bryan, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Scott of Madison, Soule, Stephens, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester voted for 
the adjournment—36 yeas; and 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Carriere, Chinn, Covillion, 
Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, 
Alayo, Peels, Pugh, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrand and Winder voted 
against the adjournment—27 nays; conse¬ 
quently the same was carried. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Guion, 
Prescott of Avoyelles and Trist, absent on 
account of illness, Messrs. Cade, Hudspeth, 
King, Lewis, Splane and Taylor of St. 
Landry, absent on leave; and Messrs. Cul¬ 
bertson and Penn were not in their seats. 


Friday, March 7, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, and the same was adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Resolved, That the sum of one hundred 
and forty-seven dollars be allowed D. O. 
Nadaud as a remuneration for that amount 
paid by him to an assistant to enable him 
to keep his records up with the proceedings 
of the Convention, and that the committee 
on contingent expenses be authorized to 
pay the same. 

Mr. Waddill offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved, That in commemoration of 
the annexation of Texas, whereby the 
peace, safety and glory of the Union are 
preserved, this Convention will now ad¬ 
journ to meet on Tuesday, the 11th inst. 
at 11 o’clock, a. m. 

Mr. D unn moved that said resolution be 
laid on the table, and called for the yeas 
and nays, which resulted as follows, viz: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garrett, Hynson, Legendre, Lewis, 
Ale Callop, Alayo, Alazureau, Preston, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste- 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Wederstrandt and Winder —37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Cenas, Claiborne, Hum- 
ble, Leonard, McRae, Peets, Porter , Pres- 






94 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


coil of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott oi 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, 
Waddill, and Wikoff- —16 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, moved that 
when the Convention adjourns to-day, it 
will adjourn to meet on Tuesday next, the 
11th inst. at 11 o’clock, a. m. The yeas 
and nays being called for, (Mr. Claiborne 
in the chair,) 

Messrs. Brent, Briant, Cenas, Humble, 
McCallop, McRae, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Read , Roman, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, and Soule —13 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brumfield , Burton, Cade, Carriere , 
Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Hynsoii, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Peels, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St. Amand , 
Saunders, Scott of Madison, .Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wedersir andt,Wikoff and Winder 
—39 nays; consequently the motion was 
lost. 

At the adjournment on yesterday, the 
Convention had under discussion the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, submitted by Mr. Scott 
of Baton Rouge, viz: 

The seat of government shall, from and 
after the year 1848, be permanently loca¬ 
ted out of the city of New Orleans, and 

not within a distance of-miles from 

the said city. 

Mr. Chinn then moved for the recon¬ 
sideration of the vote given on yesterday 
on the previous question, which motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Voorhies then called up the substi¬ 
tute offered by him on yesterday, viz: 

At the first session of the legislature 
under this constitution, a law shall be pass¬ 
ed to fix a suitable location for the seat of 
government for this State, which shall take 
effect in the year 1850, and shall not be 
subject to any change before the year 1870, 
and every twenty years thereafter, if deem¬ 
ed proper and expedient. 

Mr. Brent moved that said substitute be 
laid on the table indefinitely, and the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs,. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg,Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Derbes, Dunn, 


Garret, Humble,Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peels, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders , Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff' >—36 yeas; and 

Messrs, Benjamin, Briant, Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Eustis, Grymes, Legendre, 
Leonard, Mazurea, Roman , Roselius, St. 
Amand, Soide, Voorhies, Wadsworth and 
Winchester, voted in the negative—19 
nays, consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Saunders then submitted the fol¬ 
lowing substitute, viz : 

The general assembly which shall sit 
after the first election of representatives 
under the new constitution, shall within the 
first month after the commencement of the 
session designate and fix the seat of gov¬ 
ernment at some place not less than sixty 
miles from the city of New Orleans, by the 
nearest travelling route, and if on the Mis¬ 
sissippi river, by the meanders of the same ; 
and when so fixed, it shall not be removed 
except by the consent of four-fifths of the 
members of both houses of the general as¬ 
sembly. 

The sessions of the general assembly 
shall be held in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 

Mr. Voorhies moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by striking out the words “at some 
place not less than sixty miles from the 
city of New Orleans by the nearest travel¬ 
ling route, and if on the Mississippi river by 
the meanders of the same.” The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson; Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Grymes, Legendre, Mazu¬ 
reau, Porche, Porter, Preston, Prudhom- 
me, Roman Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, 
Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth and 
Winchester, voted in the affirmative—27 
yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty , Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent , Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Garrett, Humble Hyn¬ 
son, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peels, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 







95 


Journal <tj the Convention of Louisiana* 


Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Win¬ 
der, voted in the negative — 34 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to amend said 
substitute by striking out the words “four- 
fifths” and insert in lieu thereof the words 
“two-thirds.” 

Mr. Saunders moved for the previous 
question. 

The President then put the question, 
“shall the main question be now put ?” the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton , Cade , Chambliss, 
Chinn, Dunn, Garrett, Hynson , McCallop, 
McRea, Mayo, O'Bryan , Peels, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff, and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative— 31 veas ; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Carriere, Ce¬ 
lias, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Qovillion, Culbertson , 
Derbes, Eustis, Grymes, Humble, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau, Porche, Porter, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Soule, Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, 
Wadsworih and Winchester voted in the 
negative—30 nays. The President being 
called upon to vote, voted in the negative 
which made the vote equal, consequently 
said motion was lost. 

Mr. Winder moved for a division, that 
is, that the Convention first proceed to 
strike out, which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays were then called, on 
the motion of Mr. Claiborne, to strike out 
the words “four-fifths,” and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Carriere, Ce¬ 
lias, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, C ovillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Eustis, Grymes, Kenner, Ledoux, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Soule, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in favor of the mo¬ 
tion—2t> yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn , 
Dunn , Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, 
McCallop, McRae, O'Bryan, Peels,Prescott 
of St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, Weder¬ 


strandt, Wikoff and Winder voted against 
the motion—33 nays ; consequently the 
same was lost. 

Mr. Dunn then moved to amend said 
substitute by inserting one hundred and 
twenty miles, instead of sixty miles. 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion. 

The President then put the question, 
shall the main question be iioav put; and 
the yeas and nays being called for 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Labauve, McCallop), Mc¬ 
Rea, Mayo, Peets, Pugh, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of F eliciana, Scott 
ot Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wi¬ 
koff and Bander voted in the affirmative— 
29 yeas ; aad 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Guion, Grymes, Kenner, Legendre- 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of' St. Landry, Preston, Prud, 
homme, Ratliff\ Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Soule, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the negative— 35 
nays. 

Consequently the motion was lost. 

The hour of 2 o’clock having arrived, 
the special order of the day was called up; 
it being the following project submitted by 
Mr. Benjamin, viz: 

Sec. 1. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation, accor¬ 
ding to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes 
on the basis of the whole population, in the 
manner following, viz : Some number shall 
be chosen as a representative number, 
which when applied in making the appor¬ 
tionment, shall give a number of represen¬ 
tatives not less than seventy, nor more than 
one hundred; the number so chosen shall 





96 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


be taken as a divisor, and each parish shall 
be entitled to one representative for every 
time that the divisor shall be contained in 
the dividend formed of its total population, 
and to one additional number from every 
fraction exceeding the one half of the divi¬ 
sor ; and any parish having a total popula¬ 
tion less than the whole divisor, but ex¬ 
ceeding one half of it, shall be entitled to 
one representative; and the legislature 
shall be incompetent to act on any other 
subject matter till the apportionment here- 
indirected shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be, in accordance with the above 

principle, by assuming 4500 as a represen¬ 
tative number,)shall continue until the first 
apportionment shall be made by the legis¬ 
lature, and shall be as follows: 

First Municipality, 9 

Second “ 8 

Third 44 5 

West Bank, 1 

The parish of Plaquemines, 1 

St. Bernard, 1 

Jefferson, v 2 

St. Charles, 1 

St. John the Baptist, 1 

St. James, 2 

Ascension, 2 

Assumption, 2 

Lafourche Interior, 2 

Terrebonne, 2 

Iberville, 2 

West Baton Rouge, 1 

East, do 2 

West Feliciana, 2 

East, do 2 

St. Helena, 1 

Livingston, 1 

Washington, 1 

St. Tammany, 1 

Point Coupee, 1 

Concordia, 1 

Madison, 1 

Carroll, 1 

Franklin, 1 

St. Mary, 2 

St. Martin, 2 

Vermillion, 1 

Lafayette, 1 

St. Landry, 4 

Calcassieu, 1 

Avoyelles, 1 

Rapides, 3 


44 


u 


u 


it 


it 




a 


a 


u 


a 


u 


u 


u 

a 


a 


u 


44 


44 
44 
44 
4 4 

44 

44 

44 

44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 


The Parish of Natchitoches, 3 

“ Sabine, 1 

“ Caddo, 1 

44 De Soto, 1 

44 Ouachita, 1 

44 Morehouse, 1 

44 Union, 1 

44 Jackson, 1 

44 Caldwell, 1 

44 Catahoula, I 

44 Claiborne, 1 . 

44 Bossier, I 


Total, 86 

Mr. O’Bryan moved that said project be 
laid on the table indefinitely. 

On motion of Mr. Saunders, the special 
order of the day was postponed until the 
matter under discussion was disposed of. 

Mr. Labauve then moved for a division 
of the motion of Mr. Dunn, that is, that the 
Convention first proceed to strike out; 
which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion to strike out the word “sixty,” 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant , Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne , Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Grymes , Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, Mazu - 
reau, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Prudliomme, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, ^Soule, Stephens, Voorhies, Wads - 
worth and Winchester voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chambliss , 
Chinn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Kenner , 
Labauve, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Pugh, Railifif ', Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, WaddUl, Weder- 
strandt, Wikojf and Winder voted in the 
negative—35 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans moved to 
amend, by inserting after the words “four- 
fifths” the words “the members present of 
each house of the general assembly;” which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Saunders then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the substitute, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale , 







97 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Mr. Saunders then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the substitute, and the yeas ant 
nays being called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield , Burton, Cade, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Lewis, Me Cal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Read , 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Carriere , Ce- 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Legendre , Leon¬ 
ard, Marigny, Mazureau, Porclie, Porter, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Soule, Voorhies, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the negative—28 
nays; consequently the motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Benjamin then moved that the Con¬ 
vention adjourn until Tuesday next at 11 
o’clock a. m., and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Humble, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Lewis, Mazureau, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Roman, Ro¬ 
selius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of* Assumption, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth and Winchester, voted in favor of 
adjournment—yeas 35; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade,Carriere, Chambliss,Chinn, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Covillion, Derbes, 
Garrett, Hynson, Legendre, Leonard, Mc- 
Callop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Peston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Scott of Ma¬ 
dison, Sellers, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt and Winder, voted against the ad¬ 
journment—nays 29; the same was car¬ 
ried. 

Note.—M embers absent.-Messrs. Gui- 
on, and Prescott of Avoyelles, absent on 
account of illness.—Messrs. Hudspeth, 
King, Splane, and Taylor of St. Landry, 
absent on leave.—Messrs. Boudousquie. 
Ledoux and Penn, were not in their seat3. 

13 


Tuesday, March 11, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

Jhe Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was granted 
Messrs. Brent, Wikoff, O’Bryan, and Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry. Mr. Trist was excused 
attending on account of indisposition. 

Mr. Wadsworth submitted the follow¬ 
ing resolution, viz: 

Resolved, that a committee of three be 
appointed to make suitable arrangements to 
accommodate the members of the Conven¬ 
tion at the hall of the house of representa¬ 
tives of the State Legislature. 

Mr. Marigny moved to amend said re¬ 
solution by instructing the said committee 
to report if the hall of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives be sufficiently large to accommo¬ 
date the members. 

Mr. Voorhies moved that the resolution 
and amendment be laid on the table, which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved, that when the Convention ad¬ 
journ, it adjourn to meet in the hall of the 
house of representatives, and that the of¬ 
ficers of the' Convention make the neces¬ 
sary arrangements with the sergeant-at- 
arms of the house of representatives for the 
reception of the members; which resolution 
was adopted. 

Mr. Cenas offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved, that the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorized to dispose of 
so much of the furniture of the Convention 
as may no longer be requisite for the use of 
the same, upon such terms as to said com¬ 
mittee may seem most advantageous. 

Mr. Cade offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz: 
Resolved, that the committee on contin- 
nt expenses be directed to settle with the 
proprietress of the hall for the rent thereof, 
and deliver up the same to her agreeably 
to contract. 

Mr. Soule then moved that the Conven- 
ion adjourn till to-morrow at 11 o’clock 
a. m., to meet in the hall of the house of 
representatives, and the yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert - 




98 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


son, Garcia, Legendre, Leonard, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius , $£. Amand, 
and Soule, voted in the affirmative—15 
yeas, and 

Messrs. Beatty,Brazeale, Briant, Brum, 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Garrett, Humble , Hynson, Labauve, McCal¬ 
loy, McRae, Marignj/, Mayo, Penned or die, 
Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wadsworth, voted in the ne¬ 
gative—36 nays, consequently said motion 
was lost. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Project offered by Mr. Benjamin viz : 

Sec. 1 . Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled ta representation according 
to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parish* 
es on the basis of the whole population, in 
the manner following, viz: Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative num¬ 
ber, which, when applied in making the 
apportionment, shall give a number of re¬ 
presentatives not less than seventy, nor 
more than one hundred; the number so 
chosen shall be taken as a divisor, and 
each parish shall be entitled to one repre¬ 
sentative for every time that the divisor 
shall be contained in the dividend formed 
of its total population, and to one addition¬ 
al number from every fraction exceeding 
the one-half of the divisor; and any parish 
having a total population less than the 
whole divisor, but exceeding one half of it, 
shall be entitled to one representative; and 
the legislature shall be incompetent to act 
on any subject matter till the apportionment 
herein directed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4 . The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple, by assuming 4500 as a representative 
number,) shall continue until the first ap- 


portionment shall be made by the legisla 
ture, and shall.be as follows, viz: 

First Municipality, 

6 

Second 

44 

9 

Third 

44 

5 

West Bank, 

1 

The parish of Plaquemines, 

1 

u 

St. Bernard, 

1 

a 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

2 

u 

1 

<( 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 

a 

St. James, 

2 

t* 

Ascension, 

2 

44 

Assumption, 

2 

44 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

44 

Terrebonne, 

2 

44 

Iberville, 

2 

44 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

44 

East, do 

West Feliciana, 

2 

44 

2 

44 

East, . do 

2 

44 

St. Helena, 

1 

44 

Livingston, 

1 

44 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

1 

44 

1 

U 

Point Coupee, 

1 

44- 

Concordia, 

I 

44 

Tensas, 

l 

44 

Madison, 

1 

44 

Carroll, 

1 

44 

Franklin, 

1 

44 

St. Mary, 

2 

44 

St. Martin, 

2 

44 

Vermillion, 

1 

“ / 

Lafayette, 

1 

44 

St. Landry, 

4 

44 

Calcasieu, % 

1 

44 

Avoyelles, 

1 

44 

Rapides, 

3 

44 

Natchitoches, 

3 

44 

Sabine, 

1 

44 

Caddo, 

1 

44 

De Soto, 

Ouachita, 

1 

44 

1 

44 

Morehouse, 

1 

44 

Union, 

1 

44 

Jackson, 

1 

44 

Caldwell, 

1 

44 

Catahoula, 

1 

44 

Claiborne, 

1 

44 

Bossier, 

1 


Total, 86 

The question was on the motion of Mr 
O’Bryan that said project bo laid on the 
table indefinitely. 




99 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana.. 


Mr. Benjamin offered the following 
resolution, viz: 

Resolved, That the debate upon the sub¬ 
ject matter now the order of the day, shall 
be closed on Thursday next at 2 o’clock, 

p. m. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the following 
amendment was adopted, viz: “And on 
every amendment or question arising there¬ 
from;” and the resolution as amended was 
adopted. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved that the Con¬ 
vention adjourn till to-morrow at 11 o’clock 
a. m.; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
B riant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn , Eustis, 
Gai 'da, Legendre , McCallop, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff', Read, Roman, Rose- 
lius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Taylor of Assumption, Waddill and Wads¬ 
worth, voted in favor of the adjournment— 
25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Covillion, Derbes, 
Garrett, Humble,Hynson, Kenner,Labauve, 
Leonard, Lewis , McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn , Porter, Preston, Pugh, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers , Soule, Stephens and 
Voorhies voted against the motion—30 
nays; consequently the same was lost. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 11 o’clock a. m., to meet in 
the hall of the house of representatives. 

Wednesday, March 12, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz: 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Con¬ 
vention be authorized to subscribe for one 
copy of the Bulletin newspaper, for the use 
of each member of the Convention, during 
the remainder of the session. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend the above 
resolution by adding the words, “ and that 
the Convention discontinue the subscrip¬ 
tion to the Republican.” 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, the resolu¬ 
tion and amendment were laid on the table. 

Mr. Beatty then submitted the follow¬ 
ing resolution, viz: 


Resolved, That a committee of three 
members be appointed to inquire, whether 
it be the fault of the reporters or of the pub¬ 
lishers that the debates in English have not 
been published to date, with instructions to 
report a resolution removing the delinquents 
from office. 

Which resolution was adopted. 

The President appointed Messrs. Beatty, 
Ratcliff and Downs, members of said com¬ 
mittee. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed Mr. Brumfield. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Project of Mr. Benjamin on the appor¬ 
tionment, viz: 

Sec. 1 . Representation shall be fair and 
uniform in this State, and each parish shall 
be entitled to representation according to 
the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of the 
Legislature, after the making of each cen¬ 
sus, the Legislature shall apportion the re¬ 
presentation among the several parishes on 
the basis of the whole population, in the 
manner following, viz: Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative num¬ 
ber, which, when applied in making the 
apportionment, shall give a number of re¬ 
presentatives not less than seventy, nor 
more than one hundred ; the number so 
chosen shall be taken as a divisor, and 
each parish shall be entitled to one repre¬ 
sentative for every time that the devisor 
shall be contained in the dividend formed of 
its total population, and to one additional 
number from every fraction exceeding the 
one half of the divisor; and any parish hav¬ 
ing a total population less, than the whole 
divisor, but exceeding one half of it, shall 
be entitled to one representative ; and the 
Legislature shall be incompetent to act on 
any other subject matter till the apportion¬ 
ment herein directed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above 
principle, by assuming four thousand five 
hundred as a representative number,) shall 
continue until the first apportionment, shall 






100 Jwirn.al of the Convention of Louisiana . 


be made by the Legislature, and shall be as 
follows : 


First Municipality, 

9 

Second 

do, 

8 

Third 

do, 

5 

West Bank, 

1 

parish of Plaquemines, 

1 

a 

St. Bernard, 

1 

il 

Jefferson, 

2 

ii 

St. Charles, 

1 

it 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 


St. James, 

2 

a 

Ascension, 

2 

a 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

2 

a 

Iberville, 

2 

a 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

a 

East “ “ 

2 

a 

West Feliciana, 

2 

t. 

East “ 

2 

u 

St. Helena, 

1 

a 

Livingston, 

1 

u 

Washington, 

1 

a 

St. Tammany, 

1 

(. 

Pointe Coupee, 

1 

a 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Madison, 

1 

a 

Carroll, 

1 

a 

Franklin, 

1 

a 

St. Mary, 

2 

a 

St. Martin, 

2 

a 

Vermillion, 

1 

a 

Lafayette, 

1 

6 • 

St. Landry, 

4 

a 

Calcasieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

1 

a 

Rapides, 

3 

a 

Natchitoches, 

3 

a 

Sabine, 

1 

a 

Caddo, 

1 

a 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

1 

a 

Morehouse, 

1 

u 

Union, 

1 

a 

Jackson, 

1 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

a 

Catahoula, 

1 

a 

Claiborne, 

1 

a 

Bossier, , 

1 


Total, 86 

The question under consideration was 
the motion of Mr. O’Bryan to lay the above 
on the table indefinitely. 

On motion of Mr. Ratcliff said project 
was laid on the table, subject to call. 


On motion of Mr. Ratcliff, the Con¬ 
vention then took under consideration the 
7th article of the constitution, which pro¬ 
vides for the revising of the same, viz : 

“ Any amendment or amendments to this 
constitution may be proposed in the Senate 
or House of Representatives, and if the 
same shall be agreed to by a majority of 
the members elected to each house, such 
proposed amendment or amendments shall 
be entered on their journals, with the yeas 
and nays taken thereon, and the Secretary 
of State shall cause the same to be publish¬ 
ed three months before the next general 
election, in at least one newspaper in eve¬ 
ry parish of the State in which newspapers 
shall be published, and if in the Legisla¬ 
ture next afterwards chosen, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be agreed 
toby a majority of the members elected to 
each house, the Secretary of State shall 
cause the same to be published in manner 
aforesaid, at least three months prior to the 
next general election for representatives to 
the State Legislature, and such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be sub¬ 
mitted to the people at said election; 
and if the people shall approve and ratify 
such amendment or amendments by a ma¬ 
jority of all the qualified voters of this State, 
voting thereon, such amendment or amend¬ 
ments shall become a part of the constitu¬ 
tion : Provided , that if more than one 
amendment be submitted at a time, they 
shall be submitted in such manner and form 
that the people may vote for or against 
each amendment separately and distinctly. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said article 
by inserting after the word election, the 
words “For representatives to the next 
Legislature,”—which amendment was lost. 

Mr. Boudousquie moved to amend said 
article by inserting after the word “publish¬ 
ed” the words, “in French and English,” 
which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to amend by in¬ 
serting after the words “shall be agreed to SJ 
the words, “by two-thirds.” 

Mr. Soulr moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment by inserting “three-fifths,” instead of 
“two-thirds,” which amendment was ac¬ 
cepted by Mr. Claiborne; and the yeas and 
nays being called for on the adoption of the 
amendment, resulted as follows: 

Messrs.Beatty, Benjamin , Boudousquie , 
Briant , Cade , Car Here, Cenas , Claiborne , 




iOi 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Kenner , La- 
bauve, Ledoiix , Legendre , Mazureau , PrwtZ- 
homme, Pugh , Roman, Roselius , Sfc. Amand, 
Sellers , Soule , Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—29 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Burton, Chambliss , 
Chinn, Covillion , Culbertson , Downs, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Lewis, Me Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porche , Porter, Preston, Rat¬ 
liff, Read , of Baton Rouge, of 

Madison, Stephens, Waddill and Weder- 
strandtjv oted in the negative—2 9 nays; the 
vote being equally divided, the president 
voted in the negative, consequently the mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Boudousquie gave notice that he 
would, on a future day, move the re-con¬ 
sideration of said vote. 

Mr. Conrad moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing after the words “members elected to 
each house” the words “and approved by 
the governor; ” which amendment was 
adopted. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 11 o’clock a. m. 

Note.—M embers absent, Messrs. Brent, 
Brumfield, Guion, O’Bryan, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Wikoff, absent on leave; Messrs. Prescott 
of Avoyelles and Trist absent on account 
of illness; and Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, 
Grymes, Saunders and Winchester did not 
appear in their seats. 

Thursday, February 13, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Woolridge opened the 
proceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Peets submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved, that the standing order of the 
Convention to meet at the hour of 11 
o’clock a. m., be rescinded, and that the 
Convention shall hereafter meet at 10 
o’clock a. m. 

On motion of Mr. Peets, the dispensation 
of the rule was granted, and the resolution 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Chinn, the vote given 
on yesterday on the inserting the words 
“three-fifths,” in the 7th article of the con¬ 
stitution, was reconsidered; and the vote to 


be taken on said amendment laid on the 
table subject to call. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE SEVENTH-MODE OF REVISING THE 

CONSTITUTION, VIZ: 

Any amendment or amendments to this 
constitution, may be proposed in the senate 
or house of representatives; and if the same 
shall be agreed to by a majority of the 
members elected to each house, and ap¬ 
proved by the governor, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be enter¬ 
ed on their journals, with the yeas and nays 
taken thereon, and the secretary of state 
shall cause the same to be published three 
months before the next general election, in 
at least one newspaper in French and Eng¬ 
lish, in every parish in the State in which 
newspapers shall be published; and if in 
the legislature next afterwards chosen, such 
proposed amendment or amendments shall 
be agreed to by a majority of the members 
elected to each house, the secretary of 
state shall causeTthe same again to be pub¬ 
lished in the manner aforesaid, at least 
three months prior to the next general elec¬ 
tion for representatives to the State legisla¬ 
ture, and such proposed amendment or 
amendments shall be submitted to the peo¬ 
ple at said election; and if the people shall 
approve and ratify such amendment or 
amendments by a majority of all the quali¬ 
fied voters of this State voting thereon, 
such amendment or amendments shall be¬ 
come a part of the constitution. Provided : 
that if more than one amendment be sub¬ 
mitted at a time, they shall be submitted in 
such manner and form, that the people may 
vote for or against each amendment sepa¬ 
rately and distinctly. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said article 
by striking out the words “voting thereon;” 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin , Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Briant, Carriere, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Covillion,Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazur eau, Peets, 
Porche , Porter, Prudliomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Voorliies , Wadsworth Weder - 
strandt and Winder, voted in the affirmative 
—46yeas; and 





102 


Journal gf the Convention of Louisiana . 


Messrs. Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Co/i- 
mcZ of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
McRae, Penn , Preston, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, and Waddill, voted in 
the negative—11 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the taking 
of the vote on the amendment of Mr. Soule 
to insert three-fifths, was called up, and the 
yeas and nays being calle J for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claibotne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner , Labauve, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand,Sellers, 
Soule,Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth, 
and Winder, voted in favor of the amend¬ 
ment; 32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Burton, Cade, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porche, Porter, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill and Wederstrandt, voted against the 
amendment—30 nays; the same was car¬ 
ried. 

On the motion to adopt the article as 
amended, viz: 

Any amendment or amendments to this 
constitution, may be proposed in the senate 
or house of representatives; and if the same 
shall be agreed to by three-fifths of the 
members elected to each house, and ap¬ 
proved by the governor, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be entered 
on their journals with the yeas and nays 
taken thereon, and the secretary of state 
shall cause the same to be published three 
months before the next general election, in 
at least one newspaper in French and Eng¬ 
lish, in every parish in the State in which 
newspapers shall be published; and if in the 
legislature next afterwards chosen, such 
proposed amendment or amendments shall 
be agreed to by a majority of the members 
elected to each house, the secretary of state 
shall cause the same again to be published 
in the manner aforesaid, at least three 
months prior to the next general election for 
representatives to the State legislature, and 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be submitted to the people at said 


election; and if the people shall approve 
and ratify such amendment or amendments 
by a majority of all the qualified voters of 
this State, such amendment or amendments 
shall become a part of the constitution. 
Provided, that if more than one amend¬ 
ment be submitted at a time, they shall be 
submitted in such manner and form, that 
the people may vote for or against each 
amendment, seperately and distinctly. 

The yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows, viz: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Neiv Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Leonard , Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau,Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Wadisworth and Winder — 
40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale Burton, Cade, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porche, Porter, Preston, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Voorhies, Waddill, and Weder¬ 
strandt —23 nays; consequently the same 
was adopted. 

Previous to the hour of two o’clock p. m., 
on motion of Mr. Downs, the order of the 
day was called up, viz: 

Mr. Ratliff gave notice that he would 
on a future day move the reconsideration 
of the vote given to insert the three-fifths in 
the above 7th article just adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Project of Mr. Benjamin on the appor¬ 
tionment: 

Sec. 1 . Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation, accord¬ 
ing to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes 
on the basis of the whole population, in 
the manner following, viz; Some number 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 103 


* 

shall be chosen as a representative number, 
which, when applied in making the appor- 
ment, shall give a number of representa¬ 
tives not less than seventy, nor more than 
one hundred; the number so chosen shall 
be taken as a devisor, and each parish shall 
be entitled to one representative for every 
time that the devisor shall be contained in 
the dividend formed of its total population, 
and to one additional number from every 
fraction exceeding the one half of the divi¬ 
sor; and any parish having a total popula¬ 
tion less than the whole divisor, but exceed¬ 
ing one half of it, shall be entitled to one 
representative; and the legislature shall be 
incompetent to act on any other subject 
matter till the apportionment herein direct¬ 
ed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple by assuming 4500 as a lepresentative 
number,) shall continue until the first ap¬ 
portionment shall be made by the legisla- 

9 
8 
5 

1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 


ture, and shall be as follows: 

First Municipality, 

Second Municipality, 

Third Municipality, 

West Bank, 

The parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 
Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 
St. James, 
Ascension, 
Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 
Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East Baton Rouge, 
West Feliciana, 

East 44 
St. Helena, 
Livingston, 
Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 


u 

tt 

tt 

it 

tt 

tt 

it 

tt 

it 

(i 

it 

it 

t. 

it 

it 

•t 

it 

tt 

n 

tt 

tt 

tt 

a 

n 

tt 


1 
4 
1 
1 
3 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

86 

The question under consideration was 
the motion of Mr. O’Bryan to lay on the 
table indefinitely the above project, and the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Burton , Cade , Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett , Hudspeth, 
Humble , Hynson, Leonard, Lends, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill and Wederslrandt, voved in the affirma¬ 
tive—30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia , 
Gryrnes, Guion, Kenner, King , Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Pugh , Roman, Roselius, St. Amand , Sellers, 
Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth 
and Winder, voted in the negative—33 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend by striking 
out from the first section in the second line 
from the word “State,” all the words and 
sections in said project, and insert in lieu 
thereof, the following, viz: 

ARRICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 6. And shall forever be regulated 
and ascertained by the number of qualified 
electors therein: provided that at every fu¬ 
ture apportionment, the full representation 
of New Orleans, with its present limits, 
shall be reduced one-fifth, and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; and provided further, that no new parish 


The Parish of Lafayette, 

“ St. Landry, 

“ Calcasieu, 

“ Avoyelles, 

44 Rapides, 

44 Natchitoches, 

“ Sabine, 

“ Caddo, 

44 De Soto, 

44 Ouachita, 

44 Morehouse, 

44 Union, 

44 Jackson, 

44 Caldwell, 

44 Catahoula, 

44 Claiborne, 

44 Bossier, 

Total, 



104 


Journal of 


the Convention of Louisiana. 


shall be created with a territory less than 
four hundred square miles, nor with a num¬ 
ber of electors less than the ratio at the 
time, nor when the creation of such new 
parish would leave any other parish with¬ 
out the said extent of territory and number 
of electors. In the year , and every 

four years thereafter, an enumeration of all 
the electors shall be made, in such manner 
as shall be directed by law. The number 
of representatives shall in the several years 
of making these enumerations, or during 
the next succeeding session of the general 
assembly, be so fixed, according to the 
principles of this section, as not to be less 
than eighty, nor more than one hundred; 
provided , that the general assembly shall 
be incompetent to pass any laws after the 
enumeration until the apportionment shall 
be made. Until the first enumeration shall 
be made, as directed in this section, the 
parish of Orleans shall be entitled to twen¬ 
ty representatives, to be elected as follows: 
First Municipality, 

Second “ 

Third “ 

Right Bank of the Mississippi, 

The Parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 

• Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West, Baton Rouge, 

East “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 

Livingston, 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 

Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin* 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 

Vermillion, 

Lafayette, 


(t 


u 


n 

a 


a 


a 

a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


a 


(4 


a 


a 


8 

8 

3 

1 

2 

1 

3 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

3 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

3 

1 

2 


1 
2 
4 
4 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 

Total, 97 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
amend said amendment by striking out 
from the first section the words “provided, 
that at every future apportionment the full 
representation of New Orleans, with its 
present limits, shall be reduced one-fifth.” 
And pending the discussion on said motion 
the Convention adjourned till to-morrow at 
11 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Brent, 
Brumfield, Prescott of St. Landry, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry and Wikoff, absent 
on leave. Messrs. Prescott of Avoyelles, 
and Trist, absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Bourg and Winchester did 
not appear in their seats. 


Friday, March 14, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the President, opened the proceedings by 
prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, submitted the 
following resolution, which was adopted, viz: 

j Resolved, That the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be authorized to pay Mrs. 
Hawley nine hundred and twenty-six dol¬ 
lars for the rent of the St. Louis ball room 
for the sitting of the Convention from the 
13th of January until the 11th of March, 
and other expenses, gas, water, &c. while 
there. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Project of Mr. Benjamin on the appor¬ 
tionment : 


The Parish of St. Landry, 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles, 
Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 
Caddo, 

De Soto, 
Ouachita 
Morehouse, 
Union, 
Jackson, 
Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 
Bossier, 


u 

u 

u 

n 

a 

u 

u 

a 

u 

a 

u 

a 

u 

a 

a 




105 


journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Sec. 1 . Representation shall be fair and 
uniform in this State, and each parish shall 
be entitled to representation according to 
the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of the 
Legislature, after the making of each cen¬ 
sus, the Legislature shall apportion the re¬ 
presentation among'the several parishes on 
the basis of the whole population, in the 
manner following, viz: Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative num¬ 
ber, which, when applied in making the 
apportionment, shall give a number of re¬ 
presentatives not less than seventy, nor 
more than one hundred ; the number so 
chosen shall be taken as a divisor, and 
each parish shall be entitled to one repre¬ 
sentative for every time that the devisor 
shall be contained in the dividend formed of 
its total population, and to one additional 
number from every fraction exceeding the 
one half of the divisor; and any parish hav¬ 
ing a total population less than the whole 
divisor, but exceeding one half of it, shall 
be entitled to one representative ; and the 
Legislature shall be incompetent to act on 
any other subject matter till the apportion¬ 
ment herein directed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above 
principle, by assuming four thousand five 
hundred as a representative number,) shall 
continue until the first apportionment shall 
be made by the Legislature, and shall be as 
follows : 

First Municipality, 9 

Second do, 8 

Third da, 5 

West Bank, 1 

The parish of Plaquemines, 1 

“ St. Bernard, 1 

“ Jefferson, 2 

“ St. Charles, 1 

“ St. John the Baptist, 1 

“ St. James, 2 

“ Ascension, 2 

Assumption, 2 

“ Lafourche Interior, 2 

“ Terrebonne, 2 

Iberville, 2 

14 


The Parish of West Baton Rouge, 

1 


East “ “ 

2 

<« 

West Feliciana, 

2 


East “ 

2 

ii 

St. Helena, 

1 

44 

Livingston, 

I 

44 

Washington, 

1 

U 

St. Tammany, 

i 

4. 

Pointe Coupee, 

i 

a 

Concordia, 

i 

u 

Madison, 

i 

14 

Carroll, 

j 

44 

Franklin, 

i 

44 

St. Mary, 

2 

44 

St. Martin, 

2 

44 

Vermillion, 

1 

44 

Lafayette, 

i 

4.' 

St. Landry, 

4 

44 

Calcasieu, 

1 

44 

Avoyelles, 

1 

44 

Rapides, 

a 

44 

Natchitoches, 

3 

44 

Sabine, 

i 

44 

Caddo,' 

i 

44 

De Soto, 

i 

44 

Ouachita, 

i 

44 

Morehouse, 

i 

44 

Union, 

i . 

44 

Jackson, 

i 

44 

Caldwell, 

i 

44 

Catahoula, 

i 

44 

Claiborne, 

i 

44 

Bossier, 

i 


Total, 

86 


Which project Mr. Downs moved to 
amend by striking out all the words and 
sections after the word “ State,” and insert 
the following, viz : 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

“ And shall forever be regulated and as¬ 
certained by the number of qualified elec¬ 
tors therein ; Provided , that at any future 
apportionment, the full representation of 
New Orleans, with its present limits, shall 
be reduced one fifth, and that each parish 
shall have at least one representative ; arid 
provided further , that no new parish shall 
be created with a territory less than four 
hundred square miles, nor with a number 
of electors less than the ratio at the time, 
nor when the creation of such new parish 
would leave any other parish without the 
said extent of territory and number of elec¬ 
tors. In the year -, and every four 

years thereafter, an enumeration of all the 
electors shall be made, in such manner as 




106 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana• 


shall be directed by law. The number of 
representatives shall, in the several years 
of making these enumerations, or during 
the next succeeding session of the general 
assembly, be so fixed, according to the prin¬ 
ciples of this section, as not to be less than 
eighty, nor more than one hundred ; Pro¬ 
vided, that the general assembly shall be 
incompetent to pass any laws after the enu¬ 
meration until the apportionment shall be 
made. Until the first enumeration shall 
be made, as directed in this section, the 
parish of Orleans shall be entitled to twen¬ 
ty representatives, to be elected as follows: 
eight by the First Municipality; eight by 
the Second Municipality; three by the 
Third Municipality, and one by that part of 
the parish on the right bank of the Mis¬ 
sissippi. 


The Parish of 

Plaquemines, 

2 

a 

St. Bernard, 

1 

a 

Jefferson, 

3 

a 

St. Charles, 

1 

a 

St. John the Baptist, 

1 

it 

St. James, 

2 

u 

Ascension, 

2 

t i 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

2 

«« 

Iberville, 

2 

a 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

a 

East do do 

3 

a 

West Feliciana, 

2 

a 

East do 

3 

a 

St. Helena, 

1 

n 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

Washington, 

1 

a 

St. Tammany, 

1 

a 

Point Coupee, 

1 

a 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Tensas, 

1 

a 

Madison, 

1 

4 i 

Carroll, 

1 

<( 

Franklin, 

1 

it 

St. Mary, 

2 

it 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 

3 

ii 

1 

it 

Lafayette, 

2 

ii 

St. Landry, 

5 

it 

Calcassieu, 

1 

il 

Avoyelles, 

2 

a 

Rapides, 

4 

(i 

Natchitoches, 

4 

a 

Sabine, 

2 

<( 

Caddo, 

1 

a 

De Soto, 

1 


The Parish of Ouachita, 1 


a 

Morehouse 

1 

u 

Union, 

1 

u 

Jackson, 

I 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

a 

Catahoula, 

2 

a 

Claiborne, 

2 

a 

Bossier, 

1 

Total, 


97 


The question under consideration, being 
he motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
to strike out the following proviso in the 
tfirst section of the amendment of Mr. 
Downs, the yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie , Briant , 
Carrier e, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis , Garcia , 
Grymes, Guion , Hudspeth, Kenner , King , 
Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Lewis , Marig- 
ny, Mazureau, Preston, Bailiff', Roman , 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, 
Soule, Taylor of Assumption, and Wads¬ 
worth —35 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale , Brent , 
Burton, Cade, Chambliss, C ovillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Me- 
Callop, McRea, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, and Winder —32 nays; 
consequently said motion prevailed. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, then offered 
the following proviso, viz: 

Provided, that at each apportionment 
hereafter to be made of the representation 
in the house of representatives, that part of 
the parish of Orleans lying on the east side 
of the Mississippi river, shall be divided 
into election districts in such a manner 
that no one district shall elect more than 
two representatives. 

Mr. Beatty moved to lay indefinitely 
on the table, the amendment and proviso, 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Bourg, Briant, Carriere, Cenas Chinn , 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn , 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, and Sellers — 
27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 








107 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Ledoux, Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peels, Penn, Porche, Porter, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Ro- 
selius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth and Wederstrandt —39 nays. 

Mr. Ratliff moved the reconsideration 
of the vote given, to strike out the proviso 
in the amendment of Mr. Downs, and the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent r Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, McC allop, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets Penn, Porche, Porter, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Ma¬ 
dison, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Weder¬ 
strandt and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—31 yeas, and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes , Eustis, Garcia, 
Grymes„ Guion, Hudspeth Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption and Wadsworth voted in 
the negative—33 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to lay on the ta¬ 
ble indefinitely the proviso of Mr. Taylor 
of Assumption, and called for the yeas and 
nays; which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Guion, 
Labauve, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Penn, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders and Sellers voted in favor of the mo¬ 
tion—26 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Leonard, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and 
Winder voted in the negative—36 nays ; 
consequently the motion was lost. 


On motion the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 11 oc.lock, a. m. 

Note. —-Members absent—-Messrs. 
Brumfield, O’Bryan, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, and Taylor of St. Landry, absent on 
leave ; Messrs. Prescott of Avoyelles and 
Trist, absent on account of illness, and 
Messrs. Aubert, Wikoff and Winchester 
did not appear in their seats. 

Saturday, March 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Beatty, chairman of the committee 
appointed to enquire into the cause of the 
delay in printing the English reports of the 
proceedings of the Convention, submitted 
the following report and resolution, viz: 

The committee appointed to enquire into 
the cause of the delay in printing the Eng¬ 
lish reports of the proceedings of the Con¬ 
vention, respectfully submit, 

That upon enquiry they have ascertained 
that the delay in printing has originated in 
the inability of Mr. Robert J. Kerr to fur¬ 
nish the necessary amount of copy to the 
printers. That he has constantly been 
many days behind hand with his copy, and 
was, on March 10th, only ready to furnish 
the copy of the proceedings of the 24th 
February. That according to his state¬ 
ment furnished the Convention, he is now 
ready' to furnish copy of proceedings and 
debates up to date. They therefore recom¬ 
mend the adoption of the following resolu¬ 
tion, all of which is respectfully submitted. 

(Signed) J. C. BEATTY, Chairman 

of the committee. 

Resolved, That the reporters in English 
be required, on the evening of the day suc¬ 
ceeding any debates or proceedings of the 
house to furnish copy of those proceedings 
to the printers, obtain their receipt for the 
same, and file it with the secretary; and that 
on their failure so to do, the secretary shall 
report the fact to the Convention, and the 
delinquent be instantly removed from his 
post. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, said resolution 
was amended by striking out the words 
“and the delinquent be instantly removed 
from his post.” 

On motion, said resolution was adopted 
as amended, viz: 





108 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Resolved , That the reporters in English 
be required, on the evening of the day suc¬ 
ceeding any debate or proceedings of the 
house, to furnish copy of those proceedings 
to the printers, obtain their receipt for the 
same, and^file it with the secretary; and that 
on their failure so to do, the scretary shall 
report the fact to the Convention. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Project of Mr. Benjamin on the legisla¬ 
tive department. 

Sec. 1 . Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and each parish 
shall be entitled to representation, accord¬ 
ing to the total number of its population. 

Sec. 2. In the year 1846, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the total population of the State, 
in such manner as shall be prescribed by 
law. 

Sec. 3. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes 
on the basis of the whole population, in 
the manner following, viz : Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative num¬ 
ber, which, when applied in making the 
apportionment, shall give a number of re¬ 
presentatives not less than seventy, nor 
more than one hundred; the number so 
chosen shall be taken as a divisor, and each 
parish shall be entitled to one representa¬ 
tive for every time that the divisor shall be 
contained in the dividend formed of its total 
population, and to one additional number 
from every fraction exceeding the one half 
of the divisor; and any parish having a total 
population less than the whole divisor, but 
exceeding one half of it, shall be entitled to 
one representative ; and the legislature shall 
be incompetent to act on any other subject 
matter till the apportionment herein direct¬ 
ed shall have been made. 

Sec. 4. The first representation under 
this constitution, (ascertained as near as 
may be in accordance with the above prin¬ 
ciple, by assuming four thousand five hun¬ 
dred as a representative number,) shall 
continue until the first apportionment shall 
be made by the legislature, and shall be as 


follows: 

First Municipality, 9 

Second Municipality, 8 

Third Municipality, 5 

' West Bank, 1 


The Parish of Plaquemines, 1 


it 

St. Bernard, 

1 

a 

Jefferson, 

2 

a 

St. Charles, 

1 

a 

St. John the Baptist, 

l 

a 

St. James, 

2 

a 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

2 

ft 

Lafourche Interior, 

2 

a 

Terrebonne, 

2 

u 

Iberville, 

2 

a 

West Baton Rouge, 

I 

it 

East “ “ 

2 

a 

West Feliciana, 

2 

a 

East Feliciana, 

2 

a 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

St. Helena, 

l 

a 

W ashington, 

St. Tammany, 

1 

a 

1 

a 

Point Coupee, 

1 

a 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Madison, 

I 

a 

Carroll, 

1 

a 

Franklin, 

1 

a 

St. Mary, 

2 

u 

St. Martin, 

2 

it 

Vermillion, 

1 

a 

Lafayette, 

1 

it 

St. Landry, 

4 

ti 

Calcasieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

1 

it 

Rapides, 

3 

a 

Natchitoches, 

3 

ti 

Sabine, 

I 

ti 

Caddo, 

I 

it 

De Soto, 

I 

it 

Ouachita, 

Morehouse, 

1 

a 

1 

a 

Union, 

1 

a 

Jackson, 

1 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

a 

Catahoula, 

1 

a 

Claiborne, 

1 

a 

Bossier, 

Total, 

1 

86 

Which 

Mr Downs moved to amend 


striking out after the word “State,” the bal¬ 
ance of said project, and insert in lieu 
thereof the following amendment, viz : 

ARTICLE SECOND. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall forever be 
equal and uniform in this State, and shall 
forever be regulated and ascertained by 
the number of qualified voters therein; 
Provided , that each apportionment here- 




109 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


eafter to be made of the representation 
in the house of representatives, that part 
of the parish of Orleans lying on the 
cast side of the Mississippi river, shall 
be divided into election districts, in such a 
manner that no one district shall elect more 
than two representatives, and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive ; and 'provided further , that no new 
parish shalhbe created with a territory less 
than four hundred square miles, nor with a 
number of electors less than the ratio at 
the time, nor when the creation of such 
new parish would leave any other parish 
without the said extent of territory and 
number of electors. In the year, and 
every four years thereafter, an enumeration 
of all the electors shall be made, in such 
manner as shall be directed by law. The 
number of representatives shall, in the 
several years of making these enumerations, 
or during the next succeeding session of 
Ihe general assembly, be so fixed, accor¬ 
ding to the principles of this section, as not 
to be less than eighty, nor more than one 
hundred; Provided , that the general as¬ 
sembly shall be incompetent to pass any 
laws after the enumeration until the appor¬ 
tionment shall be made. Until the first 
enumeration shall be made, as directed in 
this section, the parish of Orleans shall be 
entitled to twenty representatives, to be 
elected as follows : eight by the first muni¬ 
cipality ; eight by the second municipality ; 
three by the third Municipality, and one 
by that part of the parish on the right bank 
of the Mississippi. 

The Parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles 
St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 

East “ “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 

Livingston, 

W ashington, 

St. Tammany, 


a 


u 

u 


it 


it 


tt 


u 


a 

a 

a 

a 

tt 

it 

a 


a 


a 


it 


n 


2 

1 

3 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

3 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 


1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 

2 

3 

1 

2 
5 
1 
2 

4 
4 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 

Total, 97 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin the motion 
under consideration was laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

Mr. Downs moved that the Convention 
take up the question just laid on the table 
subject to call, and called for the yeas and 
nays. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porclie, Porter, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Weder- 
strandt voted in the affirmative—28 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King,Legendre, 
Leonard, Lewis, Marigny, Mazurcau, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman and Winder vo¬ 
ted in the negative—26 nays ; consequently 
said motion was carried. 

Mr. Benjamin then submitted the fol¬ 
lowing substitute, viz: Provided , that each 
of the three municipalities of New Orleans 


The Parish cfPointc Coupee, 
Concordia, 
Tensas, 
Madison, 
Carroll, 
Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles, 
Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 
Ouachita, 
Morehouse, 
Union, 
Jackson, 
Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 
Bossier, 


a 

a 

u 

it 

a 

a 

u 

u 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

u 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

u 




no 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


be divided into two separate representative 
districts to be constituted as follows, viz : 

All that portion of the first municipality 
situated above St. Peter street, and inclu¬ 
ding the upper side of said street, shall form 
the first representative district of the first 
municipality, and the remainder of said 
first municipality shall form the second 
representative district of the first munici¬ 
pality. All that portion of the second mu¬ 
nicipality, situated above Delord street, 
Cour des Tritons street and the New Or¬ 
leans canal, including the upper sides of 
said streets, shall form the first representa¬ 
tive district of the second municipality, and 
the remainder of said municipality shall 
form the second representative district of 
the second municipality. All that portion 
of the third municipality, situated above 
Champs Elysees street, and including the 
upper side of said street, shall form the 
first representative district of the third 
municipality; and the remainder of said 
municipality shall form the second repre¬ 
sentative district of the third municipality. 

Mr. Downs offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz: 

Resolved , That the substitute of Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption be referred to a 
committee composed of the delegates from 
the city of New Orleans, with instructions 
to report it back on Monday next, dividing 
New Orleans, on the left bank of the river, 
into ten representative districts. 

Mr. Voorhies moved to amend said reso¬ 
lution by inserting the following words, to- 
wit: 

“First municipality into three election 
districts; second municipality into three 
election districts; third municipality, two 
election districts. 

Mr. Beatty moved for a division, that 
is, the Convention first proceed to strike 
out the word “ten;” which motion prevail¬ 
ed, and the said word “ten” was then 
stricken out. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the amendment of Mr. Voorhies, which 
resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, McGallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 


Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Voorhies, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt, voted in the affirmative—36 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg,Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Sel¬ 
lers, Wadsworth and Winder, voted in the 
negative—23 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Voorhies, the reso¬ 
lution, as amended, was adopted; and the 
President appointed Mr. Marigny chair¬ 
man of the said committee. 

Mr. Sellers then moved that the Con¬ 
vention adjourn till Monday next at 10 
o’clock a. m.; and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Bouudosquie, Briant, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Garcia, Kenner, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Roman and Sellers voted for 
the adjournment—9 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, Co¬ 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, Leonard, Lew¬ 
is, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted against 
the adjournment—48 nays; consequently 
the same was lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment of Mr. Downs by striking out the 

words “ in the year-, and every four 

years thereafter, an enumeration of all the 
electors shall be made, in such manner as 
shall be directed by law. The number of 
representatives shall, in the several years 
of making these enumerations, or during 
the next succeeding session of the general 
assembly, be so fixed according to the prin¬ 
ciples of this section, as not to be less than 
eighty, nor more than one hundred ; Pro¬ 
vided , that the general assembly shall be 
incompetent to pass any laws after the enu¬ 
meration until the apportionment shall be 
made,” and insert in lieu thereof— 

Sec. —. In the year-, and every 

tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Ill 


made of the population of this State, in such 
manner as shall be prescribed by law, for 
the purpose of ascertaining the number of 
the qualified electors in each parish. 

Sec. —. At the first regular session of 
the legislature after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parishes 
on the basis of the qualified electors as 
aforesaid, and iii the manner following, to 
wit: some number shall be chosen as a re¬ 
presentative number, which, when applied 
in making the apportionment, shall give a 
number of representatives not less than 
seventy, nor more than one hundred ; the 
number so chosen shall be taken as a divi¬ 
sor, and each parish shall be entitled to 
one representative for every time this divi¬ 
sor shall be found in the dividend formed of 
its representative population, and to one 
additional member for every fraction ex¬ 
ceeding the one half of the divisor—and 
any parish having a number of qualified 
electors less than the whole divisor, but ex¬ 
ceeding one half of it, shall be entitled to 
one representative, and the legislature shall 
be incompetent to act on any other subject 
matter until the apportionment directed by 
this article shall have been made. 

Which amendment was adopted. 

On motion of Mr, Lewis the amendment 
of Mr. Downs was amended by striking 
out four hundred mi les, and inserting in lieu 
thereof six hundred and twenty-five. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend by strik¬ 
ing out the words “ that each parish shall 
have at least one representative.” The 
yeas and nays being .called for— 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Rose- 
lius, Saunders, Soule, Wadsworth and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
Leonard, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Voor- 
hies, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—31 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved to refer to a com¬ 


mittee composed ot one member from each 
congressional district, the latter part of the 
amendment of Mr. Downs, fixing the num¬ 
ber of representatives to each parish, and, 
pending the discussion on said motion, 

Mr. Kenner moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next, at 10 o’clock, A. 
M. The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Chambliss, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Leonard, Lewis, 
McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro- 
man, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Madison, Waddill, Wadsworth, and 
Winder voted in favor of the adjournment 
—30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Humble, Hynson, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prud¬ 
homme, Read, Saunders, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Yoorhies, 
and Wederstrandt voted against the adjourn¬ 
ment—22 nays; consequently the same was 
carried. 

Note—Members absent, Messrs. Brum¬ 
field, O’Bryan, Prescott of St. Landry, and 
Taylor of St. Landry, absent on leave— 
Messrs. Trist, and Prescott of Avoyelles 
absent on account of illness. Aubert, La- 
bauve, St. Amand, Taylor of Assumption, 
and Winchester, did not appear in their 
seats. 


Monday, March 17, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

On motion leave of absence was granted 
to Mr. Penn, on account of illness in his 
family. 

On motion of Mr. Splane, it is ordered 
that arrangements be made for the recep¬ 
tion of ladies. 

The Secretary reported that Mr. Ker, 
the reporter of the debates in English had 
furnished the printers’ receipt for the re¬ 
ports of the 28th February, 4th, 6th and 
11th of March. 

Mr. Cenas, a member of the committee 
to whom was referred the division of the 
city of New Orleans into eight represen¬ 
tative districts, submitted the following re¬ 
port, viz: 




112 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


9 

The committee composed of the delega¬ 
tion of New Orleans, to whom was referred 
the project of the division of the city of New 
Orleans for the choice of representatives 
to the house of representatives, into eight 
districts, report— 

That the division of the three municipal¬ 
ities into eight districts is inconvenient and 
difficult to be carried into effect, so as to 
secure a just and equal representation, and 
it is therefore recommended that the num¬ 
ber of districts be reduced to six, each mu¬ 
nicipality being divided into two election 
districts. 

Th« following division, although far 
from being satisfactory to the committee, is 
the only one, dividing the city into eight 
districts, upon which they have been able 
to agree, viz: 

1st. First district—To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans ca¬ 
nal, and thence down said canal to the 
lake. 

3d. Third district—To comprise the res¬ 
idue of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of St. 
Louis street, until it shall reach the Metai¬ 
rie road, thence along said road to the 
Now Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street un¬ 
til its intersection with the Bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said Bayou un¬ 
til it intersects the Metairie road, thence 
along said road until it reaches St. Louis 
street. 

6th. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district—To be composed 
of all that portion of the third municipality 
above the Ponchartrain rail road. 

8th. Eighth district—To be composed of 
all that part of the third municipality belo w 
the Ponchartrain rail road. 

Mr. Cenas moved that the report be laid 
on the table, subject to call; which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Voorhies moved that the report be 
taken into consideration with the section 
relative thereto; which motion was adopted. 


On motion of Mr. Brent, that part o 
the report dividing the city intojeight repre 
sentative districts was adopted—and the 
balance of said report laid on the table in¬ 
definitely. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The substitute offered by Mr. Downs to 
the project of Mr. Benjamin, and amended 
by Mr. Beatty, viz : 

Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State, and shall forever be re¬ 
gulated and ascertained by the number of 
qualified electors therein: and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; provided further, that no new parish 
shall be created with a territory less than 
six hundred and twenty-five square miles, 
nor with a number of electors less than the 
ratio at the time, nor when the creation of 
such parish would leave any other parish 
without the said extent of territory and 
number of electors. 

In the year- 5 and every tenth year 

thereafter, a census shall be made of the 
population of the State, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law, for the pur¬ 
pose of ascertaining the number of qualified 
voters in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature, after the making of each census, 
the legislature shall apportion the repre¬ 
sentation among the several parishes on the 
basis of the qualified voters as aforesaid, and 
in the manner following, viz; Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative number, 
which, when applied in making the appor- 
ment, shall give a number of representa¬ 
tives not less than seyenty, nor more than 
one hundred; the number so chosen shall 
be taken as a devisor, and each parish shall 
be entitled to one representative for every 
time this devisor shall be found in the 
dividend formed of its representative popula¬ 
tion, and to one additional member for eve¬ 
ry fraction exceeding the one half of the divi¬ 
sor; and any parish having a number of 
qualified voters less than the whole divisor, 
but exceeding one half of it, shall be enti¬ 
tled to one representative; and the legisla¬ 
ture shall be incompetent to act on any 
subject matter till the apportionment direct¬ 
ed by this article shall have been made. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situa¬ 
ted on the left bank of the Mississippi river, 
shall be divided into eight districts, as fol¬ 
lows, viz: 





Journal of the (Convention of Louisiana . 


113 


1st. First district—To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans ca¬ 
nal, thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district—To comprise the re¬ 
sidue of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of St. 
Louis street, until it shall reach the Metairie 
road, thence along said road to the New 
Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—s-To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street until 
its intersection with the Bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said Bayou St. 
John until it intersects the Metairie road, 
thence along said road until -it reaches St. 
Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district-—To be composed 
of all that portion of the third municipality 
above the Ponchartrain rail road. 

8th. Eighth district—To be composed of 
all that part of the third municipality below 
the Ponchartrain rail road. 

Until the first enumeration shall be made, 
as directed in this section, the parish of Or¬ 
leans shall be entitled to twenty represen¬ 
tatives, to be elected as follows : Eight by 
the first municipality; eight by the second 
municipality ; three by the third municipal¬ 
ity, and one by that part of the parish on 
the right bank of the Mississippi. 

The Parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

' Iberville, 

West, Baton Rouge, 

East “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 

Livingston, 

Washington, 

13 


u 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 

44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


44 


4 4 


44 


O 

& 

1 

3 

1 

1 

2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
I 


The parish of St. Tammany, 
Point Coupe6, 
Concordia, 
Tensas* 
Madison, 
Carroll, 
Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin* 
Vermillion* 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles, 
Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 
Ouachita 
Mojehouse, 
Union, 
Jackson, 
Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 
Bossier, 


44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

3 

1 

2 
5 
1 
2 

4 
4 
2 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

2 
2 
1 


Total, 97 

Mr. Mayo moved to reconsider the vote 
given on the adoption of the following 
amendment offered by Mr. Beatty, viz: 

Sec. 10. In the year ——, and every 
tenth year thereafter, a census shall be 
made of the population of this State, in such 
manner as shall be prescribed by law, for 
the purpose of ascertaining the number of 
qualified electors in each parish. 

Sec. 11. At the first regular session of 
the legislature, after the making of each 
census, the legislature shall apportion the 
representation amongst the several parish¬ 
es oii the basis of the qualified electors as 
aforesaid, and in the manner following, to 
wit: some number shall be chosen as a 
representative number, which, when appli¬ 
ed in making the apportionment, shall give 
a number of representatives not less than 
seventy nor more than one hundred; the 
number so chosen shall be taken as a di¬ 
visor, and each parish shall be entitled to 
one representative for every time this divi¬ 
sor shall be found in the dividend formed 
of its representative population, and to one 
additional member for every fraction ex¬ 
ceeding tho one half of the divisor—and 




114 


journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


any parish having a number of qualified 
voters less than the whole divisor, but ex¬ 
ceeding one half of it, shall be entitled to 
one representative, and the legislature shall 
be incompetent to act on any other subject 
matter until the apportionment directed by 
this article shall have been made. 

The yeas and nays being asked for— 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade , 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, Hynson, Me Gallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Beets, Porche, Porter, Brudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, S plane, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wadsworth, and Wederstrandt, voted 
in the affirmative—26 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth , King, Ledoux, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Saunders , Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Win¬ 
chester, and Winder, voted in the negative 
—28 nays; consequently the motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved to refer to a special 
committee composed of one member from 
each congressional district, that part of the 
section fixing the number of representa¬ 
tives to each parish, and the yeas and nays 
being called for— 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin , Bourg, 
Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Legendre, Lewis , Ma¬ 
rigny, Mazureau, Pugh , Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Wadsworth, Winchester, and Winder, vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—25 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade , 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett , Humble, Hynson, King, 
Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Beets, 
Porche, Porter, Brudhomme, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt, voted 
in the negative—30 nays ; the motion was 
lost. 

The apportionment of the city of New 
Orleans was suspended for the considera¬ 
tion of the Orleans delegation. 

Mr. Brent then moved for the adoption 
oi that part of the section fixing the repre¬ 
sentation of each parish. 


Mr. Benjamin moved for a division, 
that is, the Convention act on the represen¬ 
tation of each parish separately; which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

The Convention then called the parishes 
as follows, viz: 

The Parish of Plaque mine shall be en¬ 


titled to two representatives, adopted, 2 
The Parish of St. Bernard, one, “ 1 

“ Jefferson, three, “ 3 

*■“ St. Charles, one, “ 1 

“ St John Baptist one,“ 1 

“ St. James, two, “ 2 

“ Ascension, two, “ v, 2 
“ Assumption, two, “ 2 


The parish of Lafourche Interior shall 
be entitled to two representatives. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing “ three,” instead of “two and caked 
for the yeas and nays. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Claiborne, Conrad, of New Orleans, 
Conrad, of Jefferson, Cidberison, Derbes, 
Dunn , Eustis, Garrett, Guion , Hudspeth, 
King, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Marig¬ 
ny, Mazuraeu., Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth, 
Winchester, and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—32 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent , Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledeaux, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porshe, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, 
and Wederstrandt, voted in the negative 
—26 nays ; the motion was carried. 

The section as amended was adopted, 
viz: “the parish of Lafourche interior shall 
be entitled to three representatives.” 

Mr. Wadsworth moved for the re-con¬ 
sideration of the vote given on the adoption 
of the representation of the Parish of Pla¬ 
quemines, and called for the yeas and nays, 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Briant, 
Carriere, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or- 
leans, Culbertson, Derbes, Eustis, Guion, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, Marigny , 
Porche, Pugh, St. Amand, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption,. Trist, Waddill, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—23 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade , Chambliss, Conrad of Jefferson, 






115 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Covillion, Downs,Dunn, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King , Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Read, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Voorhies, and Wederstrandt vo¬ 
ted in the negative—38 nays; said motion 
was therefore lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved for the 
re-consideration of the vote giving two re¬ 
presentatives to the parish of Assumption. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Eustis, Guion, Ledoux, Legendre, Leonard, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh , Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—27 yeas ; and 
Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Hudspeth , Humble, Hynson, King, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Read , Rose- 
lius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, 
Voorlues, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—31 nays;* consequently 
said motion was lost. 

On' motion, the representation of the 
parish of Terrebonne was fixed at two 
representatives; the parish of Iberville fixed 
at two representatives; and the parish of 
West Baton Rouge fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On the motion to fix the representation 
of the Parish of East Baton Rouge at three 
representatives, 

Mr. Winchester moved to insert “two” 
instead of “three” representatives. The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg * Conrad of Jefferson, 
Legendre, Leonard, Mazureau, Roman, 
St. Amand, Sellers and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative—$ yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, 
Roselius,' Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 


Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens , Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Minder voted in the nega- 
tive---49 nays; consequently the motion 
was lost, and the representation of said par¬ 
ish of East Baton Rouge was fixed at three 
representatives. 

On motion the representation of the par¬ 
ish of West Feliciana was fixed at two 
representatives. 

On motion the representation of the par¬ 
ish of East Feliciana was fixed at three re¬ 
presentatives. 

On motion the representation of the par¬ 
ish of St. Helena was fixed at one repre¬ 
sentative. 

The parish of Livingston to be entitled 
to one representative. 

Mr. McRae moved to amend the repre¬ 
sentation of the Parish of Livingston, by 
inserting “two” instead of “one” represen¬ 
tative. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Dunn , Garrett, Hudspeth, Mc¬ 
Rae, Porche and Saunders voted in the af¬ 
firmative -r 6 yeas,* and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Guion, Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Leonard, Lewis McCallop, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter 
Prudhomme, Pugh,Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers,Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies , Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder¬ 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—53 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost, and the representation of 
the parish of Livingston, was fixed at one 
representative. 

On motion the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Washington was fixed at one repre¬ 
sentative. 

On motion the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of St. Tammany was fixed at one re¬ 
presentative. 

The representation of the parish of Point 
Coapee, fixing the same at one representa¬ 
tive. 

Mr. Ledoux moved to amend the same 
by inserting “two,” instead of “one” repre- 





116 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


sentative. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Dunn, Guion, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Marigny, Porche, Pugh, Saunders, Taylor 
of Assumption, and Wederstrandt voted in 
favor of said motion—10 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubcrt, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Garrett., Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Leonard, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Prudhomme, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Winchester and Winder voted 
against the motion—47 nays; consequently 
the same was lost, and the representation of 
the said parish of Point Coupee was fixed 
at one representative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Concordia was fixed at one repre¬ 
sentative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Tensas was fixed fit one representa¬ 
tive. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Madison was fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Carroll was fixed at one representa¬ 
tive. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Franklin was fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of St. Mary was fixe£$at two repre¬ 
sentatives. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of St. Martin was fixed at three repre¬ 
sentatives. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Vermillion was fixed at one repre¬ 
sentative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Lafayette was fixed at two repre¬ 
sentatives. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of St. Landry was fixed at five repre¬ 
sentatives. 

On motion, the. representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Calcasieu was fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 


rish of Avoyelles was fixed at two repre¬ 
sentatives. 

The representation of the parish of Ra¬ 
pides, fixing it at four representatives, being 
taken up, 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend the same by inserting ‘‘three,” in¬ 
stead of “four” representatives. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King, Ledoux, Legendre, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—«-35 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and Weder¬ 
strandt voted in the negative—24 nays; the 
motion was carried, and the representation 
of said parish of Rapides was fixed at three 
representatives. 

The representation of the parish of 
Natchitoches, fixing it rft four representa¬ 
tives, being taken up, 

Mr. Guioxr moved to amend the same by 
inserting “three,’’instead of“four” represen¬ 
tatives. The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne,Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King, Ledoux, Legendre, Leon¬ 
ard, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma. 
tive—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss,Covillion, Downs, Humble,Hyn¬ 
son, Mayo, McCallop, McRae,Peets,Porche, 
Porter, Prudhomme, Read , Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens , Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Wederstrandt voted in the nega¬ 
tive—26 nays; consequently the motion 
was carried, and the representation of the 
aforesaid parish of Natchitoches was fixed 
at three representatives. 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 117 


Mr. Brent gave notice that he would on 
to-morrow, move to re-consider the vote 
given on the adoption of the representation 
of the parish of St. Landry. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Brum¬ 
field, O’Bryan, Prescott of St. Landry, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, and Wikoff, absent on 
leave. Messrs. Penn and Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs.Boudousquie,Chiun, Garcia, Grymes, 
Kenner, Labauve, Preston, and Soule did 
not appear in their seats. 

Tuesday, March 18, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Beatty opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers from Mr. Kerr, for the debates of 
the Convention, to the 13th instant. 

Mr. Voorhies submitted the following 
resolution, viz : 

Resolved , The right of suffrage shall not 
be exercised by any person of unsound 
mind, or who shall be a pauper, or a non¬ 
commissioned officer, soldier, seaman or 
marine in the service of the United States, 
or by any person convicted of a crime 
deemed by law felony; which resolution 
was ordered to be printed. 

Mr. Read submitted the following reso¬ 
lutions, viz : 

Resolved , That the printers of the Eng¬ 
lish reports of the proceedings of the Con¬ 
vention be directed to publish said proceed¬ 
ings in the Jeffersonian Republican daily, 
or otherwise, as shall best enable them to 
bring up the debates, and continue their 
publication the days succeeding those in 
which the reports are furnished them. 

Resolved , That the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be instructed to allow said 
printers such sums as in their estimation 
will cover the additional expense incurred. 

Mr. Kenner moved for a division—that 
is, the Convention act on each resolution 
separately; which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the first resolution, resulted 
as follows, (Mr. Saunders in the chair:) 

Messrs. Benjamin , Brazeale, Brent, Car- 
riere , Cenas, Domns, Dunn , Humble , Hyn- 
son, Ledoux, MeCallop, McRae, Marigny , 


Mayo, Peels, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, TVaddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the affirmative—25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bou-rg, Briant , 
Burton, Chambliss, Cade, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Co- 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Porche, Pugh, 
Roman, St. Amand, Sellers, Stephens, Trisi, 
Voorhies , Wadsworth and Winchester voted 
in the negative—33 nay's; the motion was 
therefore lost. 

On motion of Mr. Kenner, the second 
resolution was rejected. 

Mr. Garrett submitted the following 
resolution, viz : 

Resolved, That permission be given Mr. 
Hardinge to deliver lectures jn this hall, on 
to-morrow evening. 

On motion of Mr. Wadsworth, said 
resolution was laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Mr. Downs’ substitute to the project of 
Mr. Benjamin, and amended by Mr. Beat¬ 
ty, viz : 

Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State, and shall forever be re¬ 
gulated and ascertained by the number of 
qualified electors therein : and that each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; and provided further, that no new parish 
shall be created with a territory less than 
six hundred and twenty-five square miles, 
nor with a number of electors less than the 
ratio at the time, nor when the creation of 
such parish would leave any other parish 
without the said extent of territory and 
number of electors. 

In the year-, and every tenth year 

thereafter, a census shall be made of the 
population of this State, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law, for the pur¬ 
pose of ascertaining the number of qualified 
voters in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature, after the making of each census, 
the legislature shall apportion the represen¬ 
tation amongst the several parishes on the 
basis of the qualified voters as aforesaid, and 
in the manner following, viz; Some number 
shall be chosen as a representative number, 
which, when applied in making the appor- 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


tionment, shall give a number of represen¬ 
tatives not less than seventy, nor more than 
one hundred; the number so chosen shall 
be taken as a divisor, and each parish shall 
be entitled to one representative for every 
time this divisor shall be found in the 
dividend formed of its representative popula¬ 
tion, and to one additional member for eve¬ 
ry fraction exceeding the one-half of the divi¬ 
sor; and any parish having a number of 
qualified voters less than the whole divisor, 
but exceeding one-half of it, shall be enti¬ 
tled to one representative; and the legisla¬ 
ture shall be incompetent to act on any 
other subject matter till the apportionment 
directed bv this article shall have been 
made.- 

That part of the parish of Orleans situa¬ 
ted on the left bank of the.Mississippi river, 
shall be divided into eight representative 
districts, as follows, viz : 

1st. First district—To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district—To extend from the | 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia j 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans ca¬ 
nal, and thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district-To comprise the 

residue of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of St. 
Louis street, until it shall reach the Metai¬ 
rie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street un¬ 
til its intersection with the Bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said Bayou un¬ 
til it intersects the Metairie road, thence 
along said road until it reache.s St. Louis 
street. 

6th. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district—To be composed 
of all that portion of the third municipality 
above the Pontchartrain rail road. 

8th. Eighth district—To be composed of 
all that part of the third municipality below 
the Pontchartrain rail road. 

Until the first enumeration shall be made 
as directed in this section, the parish of 
Orleans shall be entitled to twenty repre¬ 
sentatives, to be elected as follows: eight 
by the first municipality, eight by the se¬ 


cond municipality, three by the third muni- 
pality, and one by that part of the parish on 
the right bank of the Mississippi. 

The parish of Plaquemines, 2 


u 

St. Bernard, 

1 

u 

Jefferson, 

St. John the Baptist, 

3 

a 

1' 

a 

St. James, 

2 

a . 

Ascension, 

2 

a 

Assumption, 

2 

a 

Lafourche Interior, 

3 

a 

Terrebonne, 

2 

a 

Iberville, 

2 

u 

West Baton Rouge, 

1 

a 

Easfy do 

& 

a 

West Feliciana, 

2 

<< 

East, do 

3 

a 

St. Helena, 

1 

u 

Livingston, 

1 

a 

Washington, 

1 

u 

St. Tammany, 

1 

u 

Point Coupee, 

1 

a 

Concordia, 

1 

a 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

1 

H 

1 

a 

Carroll, 

1 

a 

Franklin, 

1 

a 

St. Mary, 

2 

a 

St. Martin, 

3 

a 

Vermillion, 

1 

a 

Lafayette, 

2 

u 

St. Landry, 

5 

a 

Calcasieu, 

1 

a 

Avoyelles, 

2 

u 

Rapides, 

3 

a 

Natchitoches, 

3 

a 

Sabine, 

2 

a 

Caddo, 

1 

a 

De Soto, 

1 

a 

Ouachita, 

1 i 

a 

Morehouse, 

1 

a 

Union, 

1 

a 

Jackson, 

1 

a 

Caldwell, 

1 

a 

Catahoula, 

2 

a 

Claiborne, 

2 

a 

Bossier, 

1 


Total, 97 

The Convention, at the adjournment on 
yesterday, had under consideration the ap¬ 
portionment of representation of the follow¬ 
ing parishes as follows, viz: 

The parish of Sabine, -2 

“ Caddo, 1 

“ De Soto, X 













119 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Parish of Ouachita, 

1 

“ Morehouse, 

1 

“ Union, 

' 1 

“ Jackson, 

1 

“ Caldwell, 

1 

“ Catahoula, 

2 

“ Claiborne, 

2 

*“ Bossier, 

1 


Oil motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Sabine was fixed at two representa¬ 
tives. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Caddo was fixed at one representa : 
tive. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of De Soto was fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Ouachita was fixed at one represen¬ 
tative. 

On motion, the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Morehouse was fixed at one repre¬ 
sentative. 

On the motion to fix the representation of 
the parish of Union at one representative, 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend the same 
by inserting “two” instead of “one,” and 
called for the yeas and nays. (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair.) 

Messrs. Downs, Garrett, Humble and 
Me Callop, voted in the affirmative—4 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, BrianU Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis , 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Beets, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and Winchester voted in the 
negative—54 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was lost, and the representation of the 
said parish of Union was fixed at one re¬ 
presentative. 

On motion of Mr. Voorhies the vote giv¬ 
en on yesterday on the reconsideration of 
the representation of the parish of Plaque¬ 
mines was reconsidered. 

Mr. Voorhies then moved to amend said 
representation by inserting “three” instead 


of “two” representatives, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, (Mr. Saunders in the 
chair,) 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Cidbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Leonard, 
Me Cal lop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peels, 
Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Wederstrandt voted in the affir¬ 
mative—33 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Cade, Cenas Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn,Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Ro¬ 
man , St. Amand, Sellers,Stephens and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative-—25 nays; 
the said motion was - adopted, and the repre¬ 
sentation of the parish of Plaquemines was 
fixed at three representatives. 

Mr. Lewis moved to reconsider the vote 
given on yesterday on the representation 
of the parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches 
and Assumption. 

Mr. Kenner moved for a division—that 
is, the reconsideration of each parish be 
acted on separately, which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Brazeale then moved for the re¬ 
consideration of the parish of Natchitoches, 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peels, Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Voor¬ 
hies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Weder¬ 
strandt voted in the affirmative—27 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin,Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—31 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to reconsider the vote 
on the representation of Rapides, and cal¬ 
led for the yeas and nays. 




I“20 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Voor- 
hies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Weder- 
strandt, voted in the affirmative—27 yeas; 
and 

Messrs.Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jeflerson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor 
of Assumption, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—31 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, then moved 
to reconsider the vote on the representation 
of the parish of Assumption, and the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs.Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, King, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Yoorhies, and Waddill, voted in the 
negative—27 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend by inserting “three” instead of 
“two,” and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs.Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Ledeaux, Legendre, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman Ro- 
selius, St, Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge- 
Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth, Win, 
Chester and W inder voted in the affirmative 
—31 yeas; and 


Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porche, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison,- Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and Weder¬ 
strandt voted in the negative—28 nays ; 
consequently said motion was carried, and 
the representation of the parish of Assump¬ 
tion was fixed at three representatives. 

Mr. Humble moved to reconsider the 
vote given on the adoption of the represen¬ 
tation of the parish of St. Landry, and the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Porche, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, and Splane voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—'17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bri* 
ant, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Peets, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Winches¬ 
ter and Wederstrandt voted in the negative 
—42 nays ; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

That part of the section in relation to 
the apportionment of the representation of 
the parish of Orleans, having been sus¬ 
pended on yesterday, was called up, viz : 

The parish of Orleans shall be entitled 
to twenty representatives, to be elected as 
follows : Eight by the first municipality ; 
eight by the second municipality; three by 
the third municipality, and one by that part 
of the parish on the right bank of the Mis¬ 
sissippi. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend the same 
by inserting “ sixteen” instead of “ twen¬ 
ty” representatives. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, 

Mr. Downs moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m.; 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brent, Briant, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Lewis,* McCallop, McRae, 



121 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Marigny, Pcets, Porche, Porter, Prud- 
homme, Read, Roselias, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—30 yeas ; and 

Messrs.Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, Legendre, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—28 nays; 
consequently the motion was carried, and 
the Covention adjourned till to-morrow, at 
10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note—Members absent, Messrs. Brum¬ 
field, O’Bryan, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Taylor of St. Landry, and Wikoff, absent 
on leave—Messrs. Prescott of Avoyelles 
and Penn, absent on‘account of illness— 
and Messrs. Boudousquie, Chinn, Ratliff, 
and Soule, did not appear in their seats. 

Wednesday, March 19, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Hinton opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Soule was excused for non-atten¬ 
dance on account of illness. # 

Mr. Ilsley, one of the reporters in English, 
was excused on account of illness, and Mr. 
Henderson permitted to act in his stead. 
ORDER OF THE DAY, 

The substitute of Mr. Downs to the pro¬ 
ject of Mr. Benjamin, and amended by Mr. 
Beatty, viz: 

Representation shall be equal and uni¬ 
form in this State, and shall forever be re¬ 
gulated and ascertained by the number of 
qualified voters therein, and that each par¬ 
ish shall have at least one representative ; 
and provided further i that no new parish 
shall be created with a territory less than 
six hundred and twenty-five square miles, 
nor with a number of electors less than the 
ratio at the time, nor when the creation of 
such new parish would leave any other 
parish without the said extent of territory 
and number of electors. 

In the year-, and every tenth year 

thereafter, a census shall be made of the 
population of this State, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law, for the purpose 
16 


ot ascertaining the number of qualified vo¬ 
ters in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each census, the 
legislature shall apportion the representa¬ 
tion amongst the *sevcral parishes on the 
basis of the qualified voters as afoi'esaid, 
and in the manner following, viz: some 
number shall be chosen as a representa¬ 
tive number, which, when applied in mak¬ 
ing the apportionment, shall give a number 
of representatives not less than seventy 
nor more than one hundred ; the number so 
chosen shall be taken as a divisor, and each 
parish shall be entitled to one representative 
for every time this divisor shall be found in 
the dividend formed of its representative 
population, and to one additional member for 
every fraction exceeding the one half of 
the divisor; and any parish having a num¬ 
ber of qualified voters less than the whole' 
divisor but exceeding one half of it, shall 
be entitled to one representative, and the 
legislature shall be incompetent to act on 
any other subject matter until the appor¬ 
tionment directed by this article shall have 
been made. 

That part of the-parish of Orleans situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
shall be divided into eight representative 
districts, as follows, viz 

1st. First district—'To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans 
canal, thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district—To comprise the resi¬ 
due of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of St. 
Louis street, until it shall reach the Metai¬ 
rie road, thence along said road to the New 
Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—To extend from the 
last mentionted limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street until 
its intersection with they Bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said Bayou un¬ 
til it intersects the Metairie road, thence 
along said road until it reaches St. Louis 
street. 

6th. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district—-To be composed 











122 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


of all that portion of the third municipality 
above the Pontchartrain rail road. 

8th. Eighth district—To be composed of 
all that part of the third municipality below 
the Pontchartrain rail road. 

Until the first enumeration shall be 
made, as directed in this section, the par¬ 
ish of Orleans shall be entitled to twenty 
representatives, to be elected as follows: 
Eight by the first municipality ; eight by 
the second municipality; three by the third 
municipality, and one by that part ol the 
parish on the right bank of the Mississippi. 
The Parish .of Plaquemines, 3 

St. Bernard, 1 

Jefferson, 3 

St. Charles, 1 

St. John the Baptist, 1 

St. James, 2 

Ascension, 2 

Assumption, 3 

Lafourche Interior, 3 

‘Terrebonne, 2 

“ Iberville, 2 

West Baton Rouge, 1 
East do do 3 
West Feliciana, 2 

u East do 3 

St. Helena, I 

Livingston, 1 

Washington, 1 

St. Tammany, 1 

Point Coupee, 1 

“ Concordia, I 

Tensas, 1 

Madison, 1 

Carroll, 1 

Franklin, I 

St. Mary, 2 

St. Martin, 3 

Vermillion, . 1 

Lafayette, 2 

St. Landry, 5 

Calcasieu, 1 

Avoyelles, 2 

“ Rapides, 3 

“ Natchitoches, 3 

“ Sabine, 2 

66 Caddo, 1 

“ De Soto, 1 

“ Ouachita, 1 

“ Morehouse 1 

“ Union, l 

4 4 Jackson, 1 

44 Caldwell, 1 

Catahoula, 2 


u 

u 


u 


u 


u 


it 


it 


tt 


tt 


tt 

it 


tt 


tt 


tt 

tt 


tt 


tt 


ti 


it 


tt 


t i 


it 

ti 

tt 

it 


tt 


tt 


tt 


The parish of Claiborne, 
Bossier, 


ti 


2 

1 


Total, 98 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment was the motion of Mr. Brent, 
to reduce the representation of the city of 
New Orleans from twenty to sixteen mem¬ 
bers. 

Mr. Brazeale moved to amend said 
motion as follows, viz : The first munici¬ 
pality shall be entitled to seven represen¬ 
tatives ; the second municipality shall be 
entitled to five representatives; the third 
municipality shall be entitled to three re¬ 
presentatives, and that part of the parish on 
the right bank of the Mississippi shall be 
entitled to one representative; which 
amendment was accepted by Mr. Brent. 

Mr. Bbnjamin moved to lay both amend¬ 
ments on the table indefinitely, and called 
for the yeas and nays, which resulted as 
follows, viz: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Carriere, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson , Derbes, Dunn , 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion , Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King , Labauve, Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Leonard, Lewis, Marigny , Mazureau, 
Preston, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Wmder voted in the affirmative—40 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazealc, Brent, Burton, Cade , 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett,Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Me Callop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott ofMadison, Sellers, Splanc, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the nega 
tivc—31 nays ; consequently said motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Brent pnoved that ^before reference, 
the committee be instructed to district the 
representation of the parish of Orleans as 
follows, viz: eight representatives to the 
first municipality; five to the second mu¬ 
nicipality ; three to the third municipality, 
and one to the right bank. 

Mr. Grymes moved for the previous 
question. 

The President then put the question*—* 




123 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana• 


'/hall the main question be now put? the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Aiibcrt, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg,' Briant, Carrier e, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Com 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn , 
Eustis , Garcia, Grymes , Gu-ion , Hudspeth, 
Kenner , King, Labauve, Ledoux , Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, 
Pugh, Homan, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist,s, Wadsworth, Winchester and fCm- 
der voted in the affirmative—40 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton , Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, of Feliciana, 

NcoW of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, and Wikoff voted in the negative 
—30 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried. 

Mr. Gyrmes then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the apportionment of the parish of 
Orleans, fixing the representation of the 
same at twenty representatives. The yeas 
amf, nays being called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjawm, 
Boudousquie , Bourg, Briant, CarrWre, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia., Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lcicis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester, 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—39 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, McCallop,McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyel¬ 
les, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wedcrstrandt and Wikoff, voted 
in the negative—31 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried, and the repre¬ 
sentation of the parish of Orleans fixed at 
twenty representatives. 


On motion of Mr. Beatty, the appor¬ 
tionment of the representation of the pa¬ 
rish of Orleans, among the eight represen¬ 
tative districts, was referred to the city de¬ 
legation. 

The President appointed Mr. Maiigny 
chairman of said committee. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Brum¬ 
field and O’Bryan, absent on leave; Mr, 
Penn, absent on account of illness in his 
family, and Messrs. Chinn and Ratliff did 
not appear in their seats. 


Thursday, March 20, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad- 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with praj'er. 

The secretary reported the receipt of 
the printers to the Convention, to Mr. Robt, 
L. Kerr, the reporter in English, for the 
reports of the debates to the 15th inst. 

Mr. Cenas, a member of the committee 
composed of the delegation of New Or¬ 
leans, to whom was referred the apportion¬ 
ment among the three municipalities of 
he representatives allotted to the same, 
reported as follows, viz: 

The committee composed of the dele¬ 
gation of New Orleans, to whom was re¬ 
ferred the apportionment among the three 
municipalities of the representatives allot¬ 
ted to the same, report, viz: that they have 
apportioned the said representation among 
the said municipalities as follows, by allot¬ 
ting to the 

First Municipality, eight representatives. 

Second do. seven do. 

Third do. four do. 

Which they have distributed among the 
eight representative or election districts, 
into which the three municipalities have 
been subdivided as follows, by allotting to 
the 


1st 

district, 

two 

representatives. 

2d 

u 

two 

a 

3d 

u 

three 

a 

4 th 

u 

three 

a 

5 th 

u 

three 

a 

6th 

u 

two 

a 

7th 

u 

two 

a 

8th 

a 

two 

6 


Mr. Winchester moved to lay said re- 






1 *21 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


port on the table, subject to call, which 
motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Burnt, said report 
was adopted. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on -contingent expenses, offered the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses, be authorized to pay 
James Carpenter, sergeant at arms, the 
sum of thirty-four dollars, in compensa¬ 
tion for the hire of Leon, f. m. c. thirty- 
four days, to assist in cleaning the Con¬ 
vention hall, and waiting upon the Conven¬ 
tion, &c. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Substitute of Mr. Downs to the project 
of Mr. Benjamin, and amended by Mr. 
Beatty. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and shall forever 
be regulated and ascertained by the num¬ 
ber of qualified electors therein : Provided, 
that each parish shall have at least one 
representative; and provided further, that 
no parish shall be created with a territory 
less than six hundred and twenty-five 
square miles, nor with a number of elec¬ 
tors less than the ratio at the time, nor 
when the creation of such parish would 
leave any other parish without the said 
extent of territory and number of elec¬ 
tors. 

In the year and every tenth year 

thereafter, a census shall be made of the 
population of this State, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law, for the pur¬ 
pose of ascertaining the number of qualifi¬ 
ed electors in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each census, 
the legislature shall apportion the repre¬ 
sentation amongst the several parishes, on 
the basis of the qualified electors as afore¬ 
said, and in the manner following, viz: 
some number shall be chosen as a repre¬ 
sentative number, which, when applied in 
making the apportionment, shall give a 
number of representatives not less than 
seventy, nor more than one hundred; the 
number so chosen shall be taken as a divi¬ 
sor, and each parish shall be entitled to 
one representative for every time this di¬ 
visor shall be found in the dividend form¬ 
ed of its representative population, and to 


one additional member for every fraction 
exceeding the one half of the divisor, and 
any parish having a number of qualified 
electors less than the whole divisor, but 
exceeding one half of it,-shall be entitled 
to one representative, and the legislature 
shall be incompetent to act on any other 
subject matter until the apportionment di¬ 
rected by this article shall have been 
made. 

That part of the parish of Orleans, situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
shall be divided into eight representative 
districts, as follows, viz: 

1st. First district—To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson, to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle, and Thalia 
streets, 

2d. Second district—To extend from 
the last mentioned limits to the middle of 
Julia street, until it strikes the New Or¬ 
leans canal, thence down said canal to the 
lake. 

3d. Third district—To comprise the re* 
sidue of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from 
the middle of Canal street to the middle’of 
St. Louis street, until it shall reach the Me¬ 
tairie poad, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street until 
its intersection with the bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said bayou, 
until it intersects the Metairie road, thence 
along said road until it reaches St. Louis 
street. 

6th. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district—To be composed 
of all that portion of the third municipality, 
above the Pontchartrain rail road. 

8th. Eighth district—To be composed 
of all that part of the third municipality, 
below the Pontchartrain rail road. 

Until the first enumeration shall be 
made, as directed in this section, the pa¬ 
rish of Orleans shall be entitled to twenty 
representatives, to be elected as follows: 

Eight by the first municipality, seven by 
the second municipality, four by the third 
municipality; to be divided among the 
eight representative or election districts, 
into which the three municipalities have 




125 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


been subdivided, as follows, by allotting to 
the 

1st district, two representatives. 


2d 

3d 

4 th 

5 th 
6th 
7th 
8 th 


u 

<t 

u 

ft 

U 

ii 

ii 


two 

three 

three 

three 

two 

two 

two 


a 

a 

ii 

ii 

a 

a 

a 


And one by that part of the parish on 
the right bank of the Mississippi. 

The Parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 

Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 

St. James, 

Ascension, 

Assumption, 

Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville, 

West, Baton Rouge, 

East “ 

West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 

Livingston, 

Washington, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 

Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 

Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 

Vermillion, 

Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 

Calcasieu, 

Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 

Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 

Ouachita 
Morehouse, 

Union, 

Jackson, 

Caldwell, 

Catahoula, 

Claiborne, 


(i 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

ii 

ti 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

ii 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 


3 

1 

3 

1 

1 

2 

2 

3 

3 

2 

2 

1 

3 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

} 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
1 
2 
5 • 
1 
2 
3 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
2 


The parish of Bossier, 1 

Total, 98 

On motion ot Mr. Claiborne, the vote 
on the adoption of the sub-division of the 
city of New Orleans into eight represen¬ 
tative districts, was re-considered, and the 
same divided into nine election or repre¬ 
sentative districts. 

Mr. Claiborne then offered the follow¬ 
ing amendment, which was adopted, viz: 

“ Seventh district, from the middle of 
Esplanade street to the middle of Champs 
Elysees street. 

“ Eighth district, from the middle of 
Champs Elysies street to the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette avenue. 

“ Ninth district, from the middle of Eng- 
heim street and Lafayette avenue, to the 
lower limits of the parish.” 

Mr. Voorhies moved to fill the blank in 
said section with the year “1851,” which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to fill the blank with 
“1850,” which motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to insert, in lieu 
of the blank, the following words, viz: “the 
first’census to be taken by the State author¬ 
ities under this constitution, shall be taken 
in the year 1847; the second in the year 
1855; and the subsequent enumerations 
shall be made every tenth year thereaf¬ 
ter.” Which motion was adopted. 

Mr. Dunn offered the following proviso, 
viz: 

“ Provided , That at all future apportion¬ 
ments to be made by the legislature, under 
this constitution, every parish having a 
population of five thousand inhabitants (in¬ 
cluding slaves) shall always be entitled to 
two representatives; and a population of 
ten thousand inhabitants, three represen¬ 
tatives.”* 

Mr. Voorhies moved that said proviso 
be laid on the table indefinitely; and the 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant , Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne,Covillion, Culbertson , Deibes,Downs, 
Grymes, Humble , Hynson, Kenner , King , 
Labauve , Legendre , Leonard , Lewis , Me- 
Callop, McRae , Mayo, Mazur eau, O’ Bryan, 
Pects, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Roman, 



1 2Q 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Roselius, Saunders , Scott, of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens , 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Waddill , Wederstrandb and 
Wikoff voted in the affirmative—51 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Auhert, Dunn, Hudspeth, Por- 
che, Pugh, St. Amand, Sellers and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative*—8 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Selleks gave notice that he would, 
on a future day, move to reconsider the vote 
rejecting the proviso, fixing the maximum 
of any city or parish at twenty representa¬ 
tives. 

Mr. Brazeale gave notice that he 
would, on a future day, move to reconsider 
the vote fixing the representation of Nat¬ 
chitoches at three representatives. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved for a dispensation 
of the rule; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Dunn gave notice that he will move 
the reconsideration of the vote fixing the 
representation of the parislflof Plaquemines 
at three representatives. 

Mr. Garcia gave notice that he will 
move to reconsider the vote fixing the ap¬ 
portionment of the parish of St, John the 
Baptist. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 
move the reconsideration of thewote fixing 
the apportionment of the parish of Point 
Coupee. 

Mr. Voorhies then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the section as amended, viz: 

ARTICLE SECOND-LEGISLATIVE DEPART¬ 

MENT. 

Sec. 6 . Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and shall forever 
be regulated and ascertained by the umber 
of qualified electors therein; provided, that 
each parish shall have at least one repre¬ 
sentative; and provided further, that no 
new parish shall be created with a territory 
less than six hundred and twenty-five square 
miles, nor with a number of electors less 
than the ratio at the time, nor when the 
creation of such new parish would leave 
any other parish without the said extent of 
territory and number of electors. 

The first census to be taken by the 
State authorities under this constitution 
shall be taken in the year 1847, the sec¬ 
ond in the year 1855, and the subsequent 
enumerations shall be made every tenth 


year thereafter, in such manner as shall 
be prescribed by law, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the number of qualified elec¬ 
tors in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each census, the 
legislature shall apportion the representa¬ 
tion amongst the several parishes, on the 
basis of qualified electors as aforesaid, and 
in the manner following, viz: 

“Some number shall be chosen as a 
representative number, which, when ap¬ 
plied in making the apportionment, shall 
give a number of representatives not less 
than seventy, nor more than one hundred; 
the number so chosen shall be taken as a 
divisor, and each parish shall be entitled to 
one representative for every time this di¬ 
visor shall be found in the dividend formed 
of its representative population, and to one 
additional member for every fraction ex¬ 
ceeding the one-half of the divisor; and 
any parish having a number of qualified 
electors less than the whole divisor shall 
be entitled to one representative; and the 
legislature shall be incompetent to act on 
any other subject matter until the appor¬ 
tionment, directed by this article, shall 
have been made. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situa” 
ted on the left bank of the Mississippi shall 
be divided into nine representative distrets, 
as follows, viz: 

1st. First district—To extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the middle 
of Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district—To extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans 
canal, thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district—To comprise the resi¬ 
due of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district—To extend from 
the middle of Canal street to the middle of 
St. Louis street, until it shall reach the Me¬ 
tairie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district—To extend from th e 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street until 
its intersection with the bayou St. John 
thence along the middle of said bayou until 
it intersects the Metairie road, thence aloim 
said road until it reaches St. Louis street 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 127 


Oth. Sixth district—To be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district—"-From the middle 
of Esplanade street to the middle ol 
Champs Elysees street. 

8th. Eighth district-—From the middle 
of Champs Elysees street to the middle 
of Engheim street and Lafayette avenue. 

9th. Ninth district—From the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette avenue 
to the lower limits of the parish. 

Until the first enumeration shall be 
made, as directed in this section, the pa¬ 
rish of Orleans shall be entitled to twenty 
representatives, to be elected as follows, 
viz: 

Eight by the first municipality; seven 
by the second municipality; and four by the 
third municipality; to be distributed among 
the nine representative districts as follows: 
By allotting to the 

First district, two representatives. 

Second district, two representatives. 

Third district, three representatives. 

Fourth district, three representatives. 

Fifth district, three representatives. 

Sixth district, two representatives. 

Seventh district, two representatives. 

Eighth district, one representative. 

Ninth district, one representative. 

And one by that part of the parish on the 

3 

1 
3 
1 
1 
2 
2 
3 
3 
2 
2 
1 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 


right bank of the Mississippi. 

The parish of Plaquemines, 

St. Bernard, 
Jefferson, 

St. Charles, 

St. John the Baptist, 
St. James, 
Ascension, 
Assumption, 
Lafourche Interior, 
Terrebonne, 
Iberville, 

West Baton Rouge, 
East Baton Rouge, 
West Feliciana, 

East “ 

St. Helena, 
Washington, 
Livingston, 

St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 

Tensas, 

Madison, 

Carroll, 


u 

u 

a 

a 

tt 

a 

a 

a 

n 

u 

it 

a 

<• 

tt 

a 

.( 

a 

-a 

a 

n 

u 

u 


tt 


1 

2 
3 
1 
2 
5 
1 
2 
3 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
I 

1 
1 

2 
2 
1 

Total, 98 

On motion to adopt the above section 
as amended, the yeas and nays being called 
for, resulted as follews : 

Messrs. Aiibert, Beady, Benjamin,■ 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant , Burton , 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss , Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson , Derhes, Downs , 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Ilyn- 
son, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Lewis, Me- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Mazur eau, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston , Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roselius , Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, TVeder- 
strandt and Winder, voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—50 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Claiborne, Dunn , 
Kenner, Legendre, Marigny , Porter, Ro¬ 
man, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of St. 
Landry, and Wikoff, voted in the negative 
—12 nays, consequently the same was 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the 10th section of the report 
of the majority on the legislative depart¬ 
ment, and the report of the minority offered 
by Mr. Downs as a substitute to the said 
10th section, both of which had been laid 
on the table, subject to call, viz: 

Section 10th of the majority report. 

The State shall be divided into eight sen' 


l he parish of Franklin, 

“ St. Mary, 

“ St. Martin, 

“ Vermillion, 

“ Lafayette, 

“ St. Landry, 

“ Calcasieu. 

“ Avoyelles, 

“ Rapides, 

Natchitoches, 

Sabine, 

“ Caddo, 

u De Soto, 

** Ouachita, 

16 Morehouse, 

“ Union, 

“ Jackson, 

“ Caldwell, 

“ Catahoula, 

“ Claiborne, 

“ Bossier, 





1-28 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


atorial districts, each of which shall elect 
four senators, to be voted for by persons 
entitled to vote for representatives, as fol¬ 
lows : 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and the remainder of the parish of 
Orleans, parish of Jefferson, St Charles 
and St. John the Raptist, shall compose 
the second district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Ter¬ 
rebonne, shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madson, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten¬ 
sas, Morehouse, Catahula and Caldwell, 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette] and Vermillion, 
shall compose the eighth district. 

Provided, that the legislature shall have 
the power in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be en¬ 
titled to elect two senators. 

Report of the minority offered by Mr. 
Downs as a substitute for the foregoing 
I Oth section, viz : 

“The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
the voters qualified to vote for represen¬ 
tatives, and at the same; one half ev¬ 
ery two years, and the apportionment of 
senators shall be made as follows : 

The parishes of Plaquemines and St. 
Bernard, and that portion of the parish of 
Orleans on the right bank of the Mississip¬ 
pi river shall have one senator. 1 

The parish of Orleans— 

For first municipality, 2 

Second do, " 1 


Third municipality,- 
The parish of Jefferson, 

St. John the Baptist 
and St. Charles, 
St. James, 
Ascension and 
Assumption, 
Lafourche and 
Terrebonne, 
Iberville and 
West Baton Rouge, 
East “ “ 

West Feliciana, 
East Feliciana, 

St. Helena and 
Livingston, 
Washington and 
St. Tammany, 
Point Coupee, 
Concordia and 
Tensas, 

• Carroll and 
Madison, 
Catahoula and 5 
Franklin, 

St. Mary and 
St. Martin, 
Lafayette and 
Vermillion, 

St. Landry, 

Sabine and 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 

Caddo and 
De Soto, 
Claiborne and 
Bossier, 

Ouachita and 
Caldwell, 

Union, Morehouse 
and Jackson, 


a 

u 

a 

u 

tt- 

a 

a 

a 

a 

tt 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 

a 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 


I 

1 

1 

1 

I 

I 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 - 


1 

1 

1 

1 

I 

1 

1 


1 

1 

I 


Total 32 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the senatorial 
district from which, most of it was taken, 
or to another contiguous district, at the 
discretion of the legislature, but shall not 
be attached to more than one district. 

Mr. Guion submitted the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

The senate shall consist of thirt-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
persons qualified to vote for representatives, 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


129 


and the apportionment of senators shall be j 
as follows, viz : 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and Jefferson, together with that portion 
of the parish.of Orleans, on the right bank 
of the Mississippi river, shall constitute 
the 1st district, with three senators. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans, 
lying on the left side of the river, shall 
constitute the 2d district, with four senators. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist, shall constitute the 3d 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion, shall constitute the 4th district, with 
two senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall constitute 
the 5th district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge and Point Coupee, shall constitute 
the 6th district, with two senators. 

The parishes of West Feliciana and 
East Feliciana, shall constitute the 7th dis¬ 
trict, with two senators. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
constitute the 8th district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Washington, St. Tam¬ 
many, St. Helena and Livingston, shall 
constitute the 9 th district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Concordia and Ten¬ 
sas, shall constitute the 10th district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Madison and Carroll, 
shall constitute the 11th district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Avoyelles and Rapides, 
shall constitute the 12th district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Catahoula, Caldwell 
and Franklin, shall constitute the 13th dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita, Union, More¬ 
house and Jackson, shall constitute the 
14th district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches, Caddo, 
Sabine, De Soto and Claiborne, shall con¬ 
stitute the 15th district, with three sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall constitute the sixteenth district, 
with two senators. 

The parishes of St. Martin, St. Mary, 
Lafayette and Vermillion, shall constitute 
the seventeenth district, with two senators. 
17 


On motion of Mr. Guion, the above sub¬ 
stitute was ordered to be printed, and the 
matter under consideration was postponed 
until the said substitute be printed. 

Mr. Downs moved to reconsider the 
vote given to postpone the subject under 
consideration, which was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the Con¬ 
vention then took up the report of the com¬ 
mittee on the fifth article, concerning im¬ 
peachment, viz: 

Sec. 1. The power • of impeachment, 
shall be invested in the house of represen¬ 
tatives alone. 

Sec. 2. x\ll impeachments shall be tried 
by the senate and chief.justice of the su- 
supreme court, unless he is interested, in 
which case, tire senior associate judge of 
said court shall preside. When sitting for 
that purpose, the senators shall be # upon 
oath or affirmation, and no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators present. 

Sec. 3. The governor and all the civil 
officers shall be liable to impeachment for 
any misdemeanor in office; but judgment 
in such cases shall not extend farther than 
to removal from office, and disqualification 
from holding any office of honor, trust, or 
profit under this State; but the parties con¬ 
victed shall, nevertheless, be liable and 
subject to indictment, trial and punishment, 
according to law. 

Mr. Mayo offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz • 

Tiie power of impeachment for all offi¬ 
cers except clerks of courts, justices of the 
peace, sheriffs, coroners, and all other par¬ 
ish officers, shall be vested in the House 
of Representatives alone. 

Mr. Conrad, of New Orleans, submit¬ 
ted the following substitute, and the same 
was ordered to be printed, viz: 

Impeachments of the governor, lieu¬ 
tenant governor or secretary of state, shall 
be tried by the senate and the chief jus¬ 
tice of the supreme court, who, in such 
cases, shall preside. 

Impeachments of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court shall be tried by the senate. 

Impeachments of all inferior judges and 
clerks of courts shall be tried by the su¬ 
preme court. 

All other impeachments shall be tried by 
a committee of not less than mem ¬ 

bers of the senate, presided by the presi- 



130 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


cling judge of the supreme court for the 
time being. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till Monday next, at ten 
o’clock A. M. The yeas and nays being 
called for— 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie , 
Briant, Cenas , Claiborne , Conrad of Jef- 
erson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, 
Garcia, Guion, Kenner, Legendre, Marig- 
ny, Mazureau, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge,Stephens, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in favor of the adjournment—27 yeas; 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade,* 
Chambliss, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
Dunn, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Lewis, Mayo ,0’ Bryan, Peels, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
PreMon, Ratliff, Scott of Feliciana, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wikoff voted in the negative 
—27 nays 

The vote'oeing equally divided, the pre¬ 
sident voted in the affirmative, consequent¬ 
ly the motion was carried, and the Con¬ 
vention adjourned until Monday next at 
ten o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent : Mr. Brum¬ 
field on leave; Mr. Penn on account of ill¬ 
ness in his family; and Messrs. Chinn, 
Tristand Wadsworth did not appear in 
their seats. 


Monday, March 24, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed Messrs. Carriere, Wederstrandt, and 
Porch e. 

On motion, Messrs. Leonard and Trist 
were excused for non-attendance, on ac¬ 
count of illness. 

Mr. Ilsley, one of the reporters in Eng¬ 
lish, having been summoned to appear be¬ 
fore the criminal court as a witness, was 
excused, and Mr. Henderson permitted to 
act in his stead. 

Messrs. Ilsley and Kerr submitted to the 
secretary the receipts of the printers to the 
Convention, for the reports of the debates 
of the Convention of the 18th, 19th and 
20th instant. 


Mr. Beatty gave notice that he would 
on Thursday next, move to reconsider the 
vote given on that part of the sixth section 
of the legislative department, fixing the basis 
of apportionment. 

Mr. Wadsworth submitted an applica¬ 
tion from the printers of the English re¬ 
ports of the Convention; the same was 
referred to the committee on contingent 
expenses. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Article 5th of the Constitution, concern¬ 
ing impeachment, being under considera¬ 
tion at the last adjournment, was called 
up, viz : 

Sec. 1 . The power of impeachment shall 
be vested in the house of representatives 
alone. 

Sec. 2. All impeachments shall be tried 
by the senate and the chief justice of the 
supreme court, unless he is interested, in 
which case the senior associate judge ol 
said court shall preside. When sitting for 
that purpose, (he senators shall be upon 
oath or affirmation, and no person shall be 
convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators present. 

Sec. 3. The governor and all the civil 
officers shall be liable to impeachment for 
any misdemeanor in office, but judgment in 
such cases shall not extend further than to 
removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold any office of honor, trust or profit, un¬ 
der this State, but the parties convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to 
indictment, trial and punishment, according 
to law. 

At the last adjournment, the Convention 
had under discussion the amendment of¬ 
fered to the first section by Mr. Mayo, viz: 

“The power of impeachment for all 
officers, except clerks of courts, justices of 
the peace, sheriffs, coroners, and all other 
parish officers, shall be vested in the hoijse 
of representatives alone.” 

Mr. Downs moved that the motion under 
consideration be postponed, and that the 
Convention take up the legislative depart¬ 
ment, dividing the State into senatorial 
districts. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade , 
Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, O'Brian, 
Peels, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott 







Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 131 


of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Stephens , Voorkies, Wad- 
dill and WikojJ voted in the affirmative— 
27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin , 7?o«- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson , 
Derbes, Garrett, Kenner , King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Me Callop, Marigny, 
Mazur eau, Roman, Sellers, Soule, Taylor o ' 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry ant 
Wadsworth voted in the negative—26 nays. 

The President having been called upon 
to vote, said, that as the subject was impor¬ 
tant and the house thin, he would vote in 
the negative, which making the vote equal, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Soule, the amendment 
of Mr. Mayo was laid on the table, subject 
to call. 

Mr. Voorhies moved to amend the first 
section, by adding at the end of the same 
the following words, viz: “Subject to modi¬ 
fications hereinafter made;” which motion 
was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the first sec¬ 
tion, as reported, was adopted, viz: 

“The power of impeachment shall be 
vested in the house of representatives 
alone.” 

Mr. Benjamin then offered as a substi¬ 
tute to the first paragraph of the second 
section, the substitute offered by Mr. Con¬ 
rad of New Orleans, at the last adjourn¬ 
ment, viz : 

Impeachments of the governor, lieu¬ 
tenant governor and secretary of State, 
shall be tried by the senate and the chief 
. justice of the supreme court, who, in such 
cases, shall preside. 

Impeachments of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court, shall be tried by the senate. 

Impeachments of all inferior judges, and 
clerks of courts, shall be tried by the su¬ 
preme court. 

All other impeachments shall be tried 
by a committee of not less than 
members of the senate, presided by the 
presiding judge of the supreme court for 
the time being. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by inserting after the word “State,” 
in the second line, the words “ attorney 
general, state treasurer, judges of the crim¬ 
inal court, and judges next in jurisdiction 


to the supreme court;” which amendment 
was adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by inserting after the word “court,” 
in the fourth line, the words “ or the se¬ 
nior associate judge of said court,” which 
amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Beatty then moved to strike out 
the remainder of the said substitute, com¬ 
mencing at the ninth line, and insert in 
lieu thereof the following, viz : 

“ The legislature shall provide by law 
tor the trial and removal from office of all 
other officers of this State, by indictment, 
or otherwfse.” 

* 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said amend¬ 
ment by inserting after the word “ trial,” 
the word “ punishment;” which amend¬ 
ment was accepted by Mr. Beatty. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the words “for 
that purpose,” in the first line of the sec¬ 
ond paragraph, were stricken out, and the 
words “ as a court of impeachment” in¬ 
serted in lieu thereof. 

On motion, the second section was 
adopted as amended, viz: 

Sec. 2. Impeachment of the governor, 
lieutenant governor, attorney general, sec¬ 
retary of state, state treasurer, judges of the 
criminal court, and judges next in jurisdic¬ 
tion to the supreme court, shall be tried by 
the senate and the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior associate judge 
of sard court, who shall preside in such ca¬ 
ses. 

Impeachments of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court shall be tried by the senate. 

The legislature shall provide by law for 
the trial, punishment, and removal from of¬ 
fice of all other officers of the State, by in¬ 
dictment, of otherwise. 

When sitting as a court of impeachment, 
the senators shall be upon oath or affirma¬ 
tion, and no person shall be convicted with¬ 
out the concurrence of two-thirds of the se¬ 
nators present. 

Mr. Downs then moved to amend the 
third section, by striking out the words, 

“ the governor and all civil officers shall be 
liable to impeachment for any misdemean¬ 
or in office, but,” and insert after the word 
“judgment,” the words “incases of im¬ 
peachment;” which amendment was adopt¬ 
ed. 

Mr. Cenas offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz : 




i :* 6 2 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


All officers against whom articles of im¬ 
peachment may be preferred shall be sus¬ 
pended from the exercise of their func¬ 
tions during the pendency and trial of such 
impeachment. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
amendment, by adding the following pro¬ 
viso, viz : 

“ Provided that the appointing power 
may make a provisional appointment of 
an officer to replace the suspended officer 
until the decision shall be made on the im¬ 
peachment; which proviso was accepted 
by Mr. Cenas, and the amendment as 
amended by the proviso w"as adopted. 

On motion, the said third section as 
amended was adopted, viz : 

Sec. 3. Judgments in cases of impeach¬ 
ment shall not extend further than to remo¬ 
val from office and disqualification to hold¬ 
ing any office of honor, trust or profit un¬ 
der this State; but the parties convicted 
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to 
indictment, trial and punishment, according 
to law. 

All officers against whom articles of im¬ 
peachment may be preferred, shall be sus¬ 
pended from the exercise of their functions 
during the pendency and trial of such im¬ 
peachment : Provided , that the appointing 
power may make a provisional appoint¬ 
ment of an officer to replace the suspended 
officer, until the decision shall be made on 
the impeachment.” 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the article 5th, 
as amended, was adopted, viz : 

Sec. 1. The power of impeachment 
shall be vested in the house of representa¬ 
tives alone. 

Sec. 2. Impeachment of the governor, 
lieutenant governor, attorney general, sec¬ 
retary of state, state treasurer, judge of the 
criminal court, and judges next in jurisdic¬ 
tion to the supreme court, shall be tried by 
the senate and the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior associate jydge 
of said court, who shall preside in such ca¬ 
ses. 

Impeachment of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court shall be tried by the senate. 

The legislature shall provide by law for 
the trial punishment and removal from of¬ 
fice of all other officers of the State, by in¬ 
dictment, or otherwise. 

When sitting as a court of impeachment 
the senators shall be upon oath or affirma¬ 


tion, and no person shall be convicted with¬ 
out the concurrence of two-thirds of the se¬ 
nators present. 

Sec. 3. Judgments in cases of impeach¬ 
ment shall not extend further than to re¬ 
moval from office and disqualification fo 
holding any office of honor, trust or profit 
under this State; but the parties convicted 
shall, nevertheless be liable to indictment, 
(rial and punishment, according to law r . 

All officers against whom articles of im¬ 
peachment may be preferred, shall be sus¬ 
pended from the exercise of their func¬ 
tions during the pendency and trial of such 
impeachment; Provided , that the appoint¬ 
ing power may make a provisional appoint¬ 
ment of an officer to replace the suspended 
officer until the decision shall be made on 
the impeachment. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the Conven¬ 
tion then took up the 10th section of the re¬ 
port of the majority on the legislative de- 
| partment, together with the two substitutes 
j offered to the same by Messrs. Downs and 
Guion, all of which had been postponed 
to make room for the 5th article, concern¬ 
ing impeachment. 

Section tenth of the report of the ma¬ 
jority, viz : 

The State shall be divided into eight 
senatorial districts, each of which shall 
elect four senators, to be voted for by per¬ 
sons entitled to vote for representatives, as 
follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans, 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes ofPlaquemines, St.Bernard 
and the remainder of the parish of Orleans, 
•parish of Jefferson, St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist, shall compose the second 
district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Terre¬ 
bonne, shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten** 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 133 


sas, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell, 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the seventh 
district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall 
have the power, in any year in which they 
shall apportion representation in the house 
of representatives, to divide any one or 
more of said senatorial districts, each to be 
entitled to elect two senators. 

Report of the minority, and offered by 
Mr. Downs, as a substitute for the forego¬ 
ing tenth section, viz : 

The Senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
the voters qualified to vote for representa¬ 
tives, and at the same time, one-half every 
two years; and the apportionment of sena¬ 
tors shall be made as follows : 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the right bank of the river, shall 
be one senator— 

The parish of Orleans— 

First municipality, 

Second do, 

Third do, 

The parish of Jefferson, 

St. John the Baptist > 
and St. Charles, $ 

St. James, 

Ascension and ) 
Assumption, ) 

Lafourche Interior £ 
and Terrebonne > 
Iberville and ) 

West Baton Rouge, $ 

East Baton Rouge, 

West Feliciana, 

East Feliciana, 

St. Helena and 
Livingston, 

Washington and 
St. Tammany, 

Pointe Coupee, 

Concordia and 
Tensas, 

Carroll and 
Madison, 

Catahoula and 
Franklin, 


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1 he Parish oi St. Mary and 
St. Martin, 

“ Lafayette and 

Vermillion, 

“ St. Landry, 

“ Sabine and 

Calcasieu, 

“ Avoyelles, 

“ Rapides, 

“ Natchitoches, 

Caddo and De Soto, 
Claiborne and 
Bossier, 

Ouachita and 
Caldwell, 

Union, Morehouse 
and Jackson, 

Total, 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

Mr. Guion offered the following substi¬ 
tute, to wit: 

The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
persons qualified to vote for representatives, 
and the apportionment of senators shall be 
as follows, to wit: 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and Jefferson, together with that por¬ 
tion of the parish of Orleans on the right 
bank of the river Mississippi, shall consti¬ 
tute the first district, with three senators. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the left side of the river, shall 
constitute the second district, with four 
senators.. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, shall constitute the third dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascension, 
shall constitute the fourth district with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall constitute 
the fifth district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge and Point Coupee, shall constitute 
the sixth district, with two senators. 

The parishes of West Feliciana and 
East Feliciana, shall constitute the seventh 
| district, with two senators, * 




134 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
constitute the eighth district, with one 
senato r. 

The parishes of Washington, St. Tam¬ 
many, St. Helena and Livingston, shall 
constitute the 9th district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Concordia and Ten¬ 
sas, shall constitute the 10th district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Madison and Carroll, 
shall constitute the 11th district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Avoyelles and Rapides, 
shall constitute the 12th district, with two 
s enators. 

The Parishes, of Catahoula, Caldwell 
and Franklin, shall constitute the 13th dis. 
trict, with one senator. 

The Parishes of Ouachita, Union, More¬ 
house and Jackson, shall constitute the 14tli 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches, Caddo, 
Sabine, De Soto and Claiborne, shall con¬ 
stitute the 15th district, with three sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Cal¬ 
casieu, shall constitute the 16th district, 
with two senators. 

The parishes of St. Martin, St. Mary, 
Lafayette and Vermillion, shall constitute 
the 17th district, with two senators. 

Mr. Beatty moved to strike out from 
the majority report, the word “eight.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved 
that the Convention adjourn till to-morrow, 
at 10 o’clock, a. m., and the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin , Bou- 
dousquie,Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Garcia, Kenner, Legendre, 
Ledoux, Lewis,Marigny,Mazureau,Roman, 
Roselius, Taylor of Assumption,and Taylor 
of St. Landry voted in the affirmative—22 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble,Hynson, 
King, McCallop O'Bryan, Peels, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott ot Madison, Sellers, Splanc,Stephens, 
Voorhies , Waddill and Wikoff voted in the 


negative—34 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

And pending the discussion on the motion 
of Mr. Beatty, to strike out the word eight, 
the Convention adjourned till to-morrow, 
at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Car- 
riere, Mayo, Porche, Wederstrandt, absent 
on leave; and Messrs. Leonard, Penn and 
Trist, absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Chinn, Grymqs, Guion, Pugh, 
Saunders, Winchester and Winder, did not 
appear in their seats. 

Tuesday, March 25, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Marshall opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

On motion, Air. Chinn was excused for 
non-attendance on account of illness. 

On motion, leave of absence was gran¬ 
ted to Mr. McRae. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 10th of article 2d of the legisla¬ 
tive department, as reported by the majori¬ 
ty, viz: 

The State shall be divided into eight 
senatorial districts, each of which shall 
elect four senators, to be voted for by per¬ 
sons entitled to vote for representatives, as 
follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and the remainder of the parish of 
Orleans, parish of Jefferson, St. Charles 
and St. John the Baptist, shall compose 
the second district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Terre¬ 
bonne, shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten¬ 
sas, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell, 
s.hall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 




(35 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, 
shall compose the eighth district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall 
have the power, in any year in which they 
shall apportion representation in the house 
of representatives, to divide any one or 
more of said senatorial districts, each to be 
entitled to elect two senators. 

Report of the minority, offered by Mr. 
Downs as a substitute to the foregoing 


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10th section, viz: 

The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
the voters qualified to vote for representa¬ 
tives, and at the same time; one half every 
two years; and the apportionment of sena¬ 
tors shall be as follows: 

The parishes of Plaquemines and St. 
Bernard, and that portion of the parish of 
Orleans on the right bank of the river, 
shall have one senator, 1 

The Parish of Orleans— 

First Municipality, 

Second “ 

Third 

The Parish of Jefferson, 

St. John the Baptist 
and St. Charles, 

St. James, 

Ascension and 
Assumption, 

Lafourche and 
Terrebonne, 

Iberville and 
West Baton Rouge, 

East Baton Rouge, 

West Feliciana, 

East Feliciana, 

St. Helena and 
Livingston, 

Washington and 
St. Tammany, 

Point Coupee, 

Concordia and 
Tensas, 

Carroll and 
Madison, 

Catahoula and 
Franklin, 

St. Mary and 
.St. Martin, 


1 

1 

1 


The Parish of Lafayatte and 

Vermillion, 

“ St. Landry, 

“ Sabine and 

Calcasieu, 

“ Avoyelles, 

“ Rapides, 

“ Natchitoches, 

*• Caddo and 

De Soto, 

“ Claiborne and 

Bossier, 

“ Ouachita and 

Caldwell, 

“ Union, Morehouse 

and Jackson, 

Total, 32 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the senato¬ 
rial district from which most of it was ta¬ 
ken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature; but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

Substitute offered by Mr. Gjjion, viz: 

The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, by 
persons qualified to vote for representa¬ 
tives, and the apportionment of senators 
shall be as follows, to wit: 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and Jefferson, together with that 
portion of the parish of Orleans on the 
right bank of the river Mississippi, shall 
constitute the first district, with three sena¬ 
tors. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the left side of the river, shall 
constitute the second district, with four 
senators. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, shall constitute the third dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion, shall constitute the fourth district, 
with two senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terre Bonne, shall constitute 
the fifth district; with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge and Point Coupee, shall constitute 
the sixth district, with two senators. 

The parishes of West Feliciana and 
East Feliciana, shall constitute the seventh 
district, with two senators. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge, shall 




136 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


constitute the eighth district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Washington, St. Tam¬ 
many, St. Helena and Livingston, shall 
constitute the ninth district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas, 
shall constitute the tenth district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Madison and Carroll, 
shall constitute the eleventh district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Avoyelles and Rapides, 
shall constitute the twelfth district, with 
two senators. 

The parishes of Catahoula, Caldwell 
and Franklin, shall constitute the thirteenth 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita, Union, More 
house and Jackson, shall constitute the 
fourteenth district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches, Caddo, 
Sabine, De Soto and Claiborne, shall con¬ 
stitute the fifteenth district, with three sen¬ 
ators. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall constitute the sixteenth district, 
with two senators. 

The parishes of St. Martin, St. Mary, 
Lafayette and Vermillion, shall constitute 
the seventeenth district, with two Senators. 

The motion of Mr. Beatty to strike out 
from the majority report the word “eight” 
being under consideration, the yeas and 
nays being called for 

Messrs. ‘Aubert, Beatty, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, 
Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hvnson, King, Labauve, Ledeax, 
Lewis, McCallop, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, WikofF and Winder 
voted in the affirmative.—54 yeas, and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Kenner, Ma- 
rigny, Roman, Taylor of Assumption and 
Winchester voted in the negative.—7 # nays, 
consequently said motion was caried. 

Mr. Brent then moved to fill the blank 


with the words “ thirty-two ” and the yeas 
and nays being called for 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Le- 
deaux,Legendre,McCallop, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and 
Wederstrant voted in the affirmative—31 
yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Boudousque, Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Laydry, 
Wadsworth, WikofF, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—32 nays, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner moved to lay on the table 
subject to call, the clause fixing the num¬ 
ber of senatorial districts, and that the Con¬ 
vention proceed in the apportionment; the 
yeas and nays being called for 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Sellers, 
Taylor of Assumption, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—31 yeas ; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Bruin- 
field, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Mc¬ 
Callop, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and 
WikofF voted in the negative—31 nays; 
the vote being equally divided the Presi¬ 
dent voted in the negative, consequently 
the motion was lost. 

Mr.. O’Bryan then moved to fill the 
blank with the word “thirty,” and the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton,Cade,Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


137 


Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Le- 
doux, McCallop, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott ot Baton Rouge, Scott oi Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt voted in the affirmative—30 yeas ; 
a!nd 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin , Boil- 
dou'squie, Boarg , Briant,Cenas, Claiborne , 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Pugli, Roman, Saunders, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—32 nays; consequently, 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Guion then moved to fill the blank 
with the word “ seventeen.” The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg , Briant, Ccnas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia , Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve , Lewis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in favor of said 
motion—28 ayes; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazcale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Ledoux, Legendre, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, McCallop , Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhom¬ 
me, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in 
the negative—35* nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner moved to adjourn till to¬ 
morrow at ten o’clock a. m. The yeas 
and nays being called for, yeas 31—nays 

31. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Beu- 
dousquie, Boug, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia , Gui¬ 
on, Hudspeth, Kenner, Labanve , Legendre, 
Marigny , Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Ro- 
selius, Saunders, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Winchester and Wind¬ 
er voted in the affirmative—31 ayes; and i 
18 


Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Bromfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Chambliss , Covillion, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, 
'McCallop, O'Bryan , Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott, of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read , Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane , Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wadd ill, TVederstrandt and Wikoff voted i n 
the negative—31 nays. The vote being 
equal, Jhe President voted in the negative; 
consequently, the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Kenner, the clause 
in the majority report fixing the number of 
senatorial districts, was laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

Mr. Brent than moved to take up the 
substitute. offered by Mr. Downs, which 
motion was lost. 

The President being asked what project 
was before the house, answered, that the 
majority report was the one upon which 
the Convention had been acting. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned - 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Noje.— Members absent : Messrs. 
Chinn, Leonard, Penn and Trist, absent 
on account of illness; Messrs. Carriere, 
Mayo, McRae and Porche absent on leave, 
Messrs. Grymes and Soule did not appear 
in their seats. 


Wednesday, March 26, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Ilsley, one of the reporters in Eng¬ 
lish, furnished the secretary with the re¬ 
ceipt of the printers to the Convention for 
the report of the debates to the 24th instant. 

Mr. Ratliff chairman of the committee 
on contingent expenses, offered the follow¬ 
ing resolution, which was adopted, viz: 

“ Resolved, That the committee on con- 
tingentexpenses be instructed to pay James 
Carpenter, sergeant-at-arms, the sum ot 
twenty-seven dollars and fourteen cents, in 
remuneration for moneys paid out by him 
for the use of the Convention*” 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 10th of article 5th, as reported 
by the majority. 

“ The State shall be divided into eight 
senatorial districts, each of which shall 
plect four senators, to be voted tor by per- 




138 


Journal of the Conventio?i of Louisiana. 


sons entitled to vote for representatives, as 
follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and the remainder of the parish of 
Orleans, parishes of Jefferson, St. Charles 
and St.John the Baptist, shall compose the 
second district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Ter¬ 
rebonne shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Co.upee 
and Avoyelles shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, Ma¬ 
dison, Ouachita, Franklin, Union, Tensas, 
Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell shall 
compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto shall compose the seventh 
district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall have 
the power in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide anyone or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be enti¬ 
tled to elect two senators.” 

Report of the minority offered by Mr. 
Downs as a substitute to the foregoing 10th 
section, viz : 

“ The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years by 
the voters qualified to vote for representa¬ 
tives, and at the same time, one-half eveiy 
two years, and the apportionment of sena¬ 
tors shall be as follows : 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the light bank of the river shall 


have one senator. 1 

The Parish of Orleans— 

First Municipality, 2 

Second “ 1 

Third “ * 1 

The Parish of Jefferson, 1 


The Parish of St. John the Baptist 

and St. Charles, 
St. James, 

Ascension and 
Assumption, 
Lafourche and 
Terrebonne, 
Iberville and 

West Baton Rouge, 
East Baton Rouge, 
West Feliciana, 

East Feliciana, 

St. Helena and 
Livingston, 
Washington and 
St. Tammany, 
Point Coupee, 
Concordia and 
Tensas, 

Carroll and 
Madison, 
Catahoula and . 

Franklin, 

St. Mary and 
St. Martin, 
Lafayatte and 
Vermillion, 

St. Landry, 

Sabine and 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles, 

Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 

Caddo anc^ 

De Soto, 

Claiborne and 
Bossier, 

Ouachita and 
Caldwell, 

Union, Morehouse 
and Jackson, 


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a 

u 

a 

it 

u 

a 

a 

a 

a 

u 

n 

a 

a 

it 

it 

a 

a 

a 


I 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


1 

1 

I 


Total,- 32 

And whenever a new parish shall be cre¬ 
ated, it shall be attached to the senatorial 
district from which most of it was taken, 
or to another contiguous district, at the dis¬ 
cretion of the legislature; but shall not be 
attached to more than one district.” 

Mr. Guion offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz : 

The senate shall consist of thirty-two 
members, to be elected for four years, bv 
persons qualified to vote for representa¬ 
tives, and the apportionment of the sena¬ 
tors shall be as follows, viz : 



139 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and Jefferson, together with that por¬ 
tion of the parish of Orleans on the right 
bank of the river Mississippi, shall consti¬ 
tute the first district, with three senators. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the left side of the river shall con¬ 
stitute the second district, with four sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist shall constitute the third district, 
with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall constitute the fourth district, with 
two senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall constitute 
the fifth district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge and Point Coupee shall constitute 
the sixth district, with two senators. 

The parishes of West Feliciana and 
East Feliciana shall constitute the seventh 
district, with two senators. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
constitute the eighth district, with one se¬ 
nator. 

The parishes of Washington, St. Tam¬ 
many, St. Helena and Livingston shall 
constitute the ninth district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas, 
shall constitute the tenth district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Madison and Carroll, 
shall constitute the eleventh district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Avoyelles and Rapides, 
shall constitute the twelfth district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Catahoula, Caldwell and 
Franklin, shall constitute the thirteenth 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita, Union, More¬ 
house and Jackson, shall constitute the 
fourteenth district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches, Caddo, 
Sabine, De Soto and Claiborne, shall con¬ 
stitute the fifteenth district, with three 
senators. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall constitute the sixteenth district, 
with two senators. 

The parishes of St. Martin, St. Mary, 
Lafayette and Vermillion, shall constitute 
the seventeenth district, with two senators. 


On motion, the Convention took up the 
first district of the majority report, viz : 

44 All th?t portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi, 
shall compose the first district.” 

Mr. Downs offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz : 

‘‘The parish of Orleans shall have—for 
the first municipality, two senators; for the 
second municipality, one senator; for the 
third municipality, one senator.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to lay on 
the table, subject to call, the order of the 
day, in order to make way for the following 
resolution, viz : 

“Whereas, representation in the lower 
house of the general assembly has been 
based solely on members— 

“ Resolved ,' That in apportioning repe- 
sentation in the senate, property or taxation 
should be taken into the estimate.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, BoudousquieBriant , 
Cenas , Claiborne , Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson , Berbes, 
Dunn, Guion , Kenner , King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Mazureau , Pugh, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders , Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale , 
Brent, Brumfield,Burton, Cade, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
iTBryan, Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud- 
homme, Ratliff, Read,, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Sphme, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
IVaddill, and Wedcrstraudit voted in the 
negative—36 nays; consequently the mo. 
tion was lost. 

.Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
lay on the table subject, to call, the first 
district of the majority report, together with 
the substitute offered bv Mr. Downs, in 
consequence of the absence of four of the 
city delegates. 

The yeas and nays being called for, re¬ 
sulted as follows : 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas , Clai¬ 
bornei Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King , Labauve, 
Legendre,, Leuis, Marigny, Mazureau, 




MO 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion , Culbertson, Downs, 
Humble, Hynson, Me Callop, McRae, O'¬ 
Bryan, Peels , Penn, Porter, Prescott oi 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud- 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
ofFeliciana, Sellers,Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted 
in the negative—29 nays ; consequently 
the motion was carried. 

On motion, the second district of the ma¬ 
jority report was taken up, viz : 

“The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and the remainder of the parish of 
Orleans, parish of Jefferson, St. Charles 
and St. John the Baptist, shall compose 
the second district.” 

Mr. Downs offered the following amend¬ 
ment, to wit: 

The parish of Plaquemines and St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the.right bank of the river, shall 
have one senator. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to amend the 
amendment of Mr. Downs, by inserting 


“two” instead 


of “one” 


senator.^ The 


yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquic, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Garcia, 
Hudspeth , King, Labauve, Legendre, Lew¬ 
is, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugli, Roman, Ro- 
sclius, Taylor of Assumption, lay lor of St. 
Landry, Wadsworth , Wilcoff and Winches¬ 
ter, voted in the affirmative—26yeas ; and 

Messrs.' Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton,Cade, Chambliss, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Guion, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, MeCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, O’ Bryan, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane , 
Stephens , Voorhies, Waddill and Weder¬ 
strandt voted in the negative—33 nays ; 
the motion was lost. 

On motion the amendment of Mr. Downs’ 
was adopted, viz: 

“ The parishes of Placquemines and St. 
Bernard, and that portion of the parish of 
Orleans on the right bank of the river Mis¬ 
sissippi, shall have one senator.” 


Mr. Beatty moved to strike out trom 
said district that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the right bank ; which motion was 
lost. 

Mr. BenJamin then moved that the par¬ 
ishes of Jefferson, St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, be entitled to three senators. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend Mr. Benja¬ 
min’s motion, by giving to the parish of 
Jefferson one senator. 

Mr. Benjamin then moved for a division, 
that the Convention first proceed to divide 
the parish of Jefferson from the parishes of 
St. Charles and St. John the Baptist. The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Chambliss , Covillion, 
Downs, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, O'Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—34 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert,Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor ofSt. Landry, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff i and Winchester voted in the 
negative—27 nays ; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Conrad of Jefferson, moved to 
amend the amendment of Mr. Brent, by 
inserting “two” instead of “one” senator. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eusiis, Garcia, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny , 
Mazureau, Preston, Pugh, Roman, Rose¬ 
lius, Sanders, Soule, Taylor of Assump 
tion, Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent,, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs , Garrett, Hudspeth , Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Lewis, McCallop, McRea, O'Bryan, 
Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 141 


Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Waddill , Wederstrandt, and Wikoff voted 
in the negative—36 nays ; consequently 
the motion was lost. 

The motion of Mr. Brent, giving the 
parish of Jefferson one senator, was then 
adopted. 

On motion, the apportionment of the par¬ 
ishes of St. Charles and St. John the Bap¬ 
tist was fixed at one Senator. 

On motion, the Convention took up the 
third district of the majority report, viz : 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior, and Ter¬ 
rebonne, shall compose the third district. 

Mr. Kenner moved for a division, that 
is, that the parish of Si. James and As¬ 
cension shall compose one district; which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr, Kenner then moved to allot said 
district two senators. 

And, pending the discussion of said mo¬ 
tion the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row at ten o’clock, a. m. 

Note—Members absent, Messrs. Car- 
riere, Mayo, and Porche, absent on leave ; 
Messrs. Leonard and Trist, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness ; and Messrs. Chinn, 
Grymes and St. Amand did not appear in 
their seats. 


Thursday, March 27, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, at the request of the president, the 
Hon. Mr. Stephens opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

Mr. Robert Kerr, one of the reporters in 
English, furnished the secret ary with the 
receipt of the printers to the Convention, 
for the report of the debates in English of 
the 25th ult. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 

-senatorial districts, each of which shall 

elect four senators, to be voted for by per¬ 
sons entitled to vote for representatives, as 
follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard and that portion of the parish of Or¬ 


leans on the right bank of the river, shall 
compose one district, with one senalor. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist, shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascension, 
shall compose one district, with --sena¬ 

tors. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall- compose 
-district, wiih-senator. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles, shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carrol, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin,Ten¬ 
sas, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell, 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall have 
the power, in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts* each to be enti¬ 
tled to elect two senators. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Ken¬ 
ner to allow to the senatorial district, com¬ 
posed of the parishes of St. James and As¬ 
cension, two senators. 

Mr. Brent moved that the order of the 
day, that is, the motion offered by Mr. Ken¬ 
ner giving two senators to the county* of 
Acadia, be laid on the table subject to sail; 
and the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Cade, 
Chambliss , Covillion, Downs, Humble, 
Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, O'Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Voor- 









142 


journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


hies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—29 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton , Chinn, 
Claiborne , Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culberson , Derbes, Dunn,Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth , Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Alarig- 
ny, Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wikoff 
and Winchester voted in the negative—36 
nays; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner then called for the yeas 
and nays on the motion giving two sena¬ 
tors to the parishes of St. .Tames and As¬ 
cension, which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Burton Cade, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferso n,Culbertson,Derbes, Dunn , Eusiis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazur eau, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
*39 yeas ; and . 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, 
Hynson, McC allop, McRae, O’ Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the 
negative—25 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion, the senatorial district com¬ 
posed of the parishes of St. James and 
Ascension, with two senators, was adopted. 

Mr. Ratliff gave notice that he would, 
on a future day, move to reconsider the 
vote making one senatorial district of the 
parishes of St. James and Ascension. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved that 
the parishes of Assumption, Lafourche In¬ 
terior and Terrebonne shall compose one- 
district, with two senators. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
the Convention first proceed to establish 
the district; and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin,Boudousquie, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Cliam- 
Bourg, Briant, Burton, Brumfield, Chinn , 


Cade, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson , Derbes, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett,, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazur eau, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Sellers, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—38 yeas; 
and, 

bliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson , 
Ledoux, Ale Gallop, McRae, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—25 nays; consequently 
the motion was carried. 

On motion, the district composed of the 
parishes of Assumption, Lafourche Interior 
and Terrebonne with two senators, was 
adopted. 

The Convention then took up the fourth 
district of the majority report, viz : 

“The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Point Coupee 
and Avoyelles shall compose the fourth 
district.” 

Mr. Chinn moved to amend, as follows, 
viz: “The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district;” 
which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Chinn then moved that two senators 
be allotted to the said district formed of 
the parishes of Iberville and West Baton 
Rouge; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Kenner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Ale Gallop, Marigny, Mazur eau, Pugh, 
Roman, Saunders , Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Waddill and Winchester voted in the affir-, 
mative—23 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg,Brazeale, 
Brent, ■Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Lewis, McRae, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St.Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Wedcrstrpndt and Winder voted 
in the negative—38 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 





143 


Journal of the Conv 

On motion, the district composed of the 
parishes of Iberville and West Baton Rouge, 
with one senator, was adopted. 

Mr. Read moved that the parish of East 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district*, 
with one senator; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Ledoux moved that the parish of 
Point Coupee shall compose one district, 
with one senator; which motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Covillion . moved that the parish 
of Avoyelles shall compose one district, 
with one senator; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty , Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton,Cade,Cenas,Chambliss, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, Garrett, 
Hudspeth , Humble, Hynson , King, Ledoux , 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor- 
hies, IVaddHU Wederstrandt and Winder 
voted in the affirmative-41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Guion, 
Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Wadsworth and 

Winchester voted in the negative-19 

nays; consequently the motion was carried, 
and the district composed of the parish of 
Avoyelles with one senator, was adopted. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Car- 
riere, Mayo and Porche absent on leave; • 
Messrs. Leonard and Trist absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Grymes, 
Preston, Roselius, St. Amand and Soule 
did not appear in their seats. 

Friday, March 28, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Ilsley, one of the reporters in 
English, furnished the secretary with the 
receipt of the printers to the Convention for 
the report of the debates in English, ol the 
26th inst. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided in- 


ca tion of Louisiana . 

to-— senatorial districts, each of which 

shall elect four senators, to be voted for by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives 
as follows: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
ying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall comprise the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the right bank of the river shall 
composse one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The phrishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior, and Terrebonne, shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba¬ 
ton Rouge shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Pointe Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carrol, Madi¬ 
son, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Tensas, 
Morehouse, Catahoula, and Caldwell shall 
compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Provided, that the legislature shall have 
the power in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be enti¬ 
tled to elect two senators. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the eighth district of the ma¬ 
jority report, viz: 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 





144 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion shall 
compose the eighth district. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
amend the same by making a district of 
the parishes of St. Mary and St. Martin. 

Mr. Splane moved for a division, that 
is that each parish shall constitute a sepa¬ 
rate district, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Humble, McCallop, McRae, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Waddill, Wederstrandt, and Wi- 
koff voted in the affirmative—25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousqtiie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—36 nays; consequently 
the motion was lost. 

On motion the amendment of Mr. Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, forming one district with 
the parishes of St. Mary and St. Martin, 
was adopted. 

Then Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved 
that two senators be allotted to the district 
composed of the parishes of St. Mary and 
St. Martin ; the yeas and nays being cal¬ 
led for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Cade,* 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Co¬ 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, WikofF, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—49 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Burton, Hynson, McRae, Penn, 
Porter, Ratliff', Read, Scott of Feliciana, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 


negative—10 nays ; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
the district composed orthe parishes of St. 
Mary and St. Martin, with two senators, 
was adopted. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved that the parishes of 
Lafayette' and Vermillion shall compose 
one district, with one senator, which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the parishes of 
St. Landry and Calcasieu shall form one 
district, with two senators ; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zealc, Brent, Burton, Brumfield, Briant, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Wederstrandt, Wi- 
koff, Winchester and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—57 yeas ; and 

Mr. Abel Waddill voted in the negative 
—1 nay; consequently the motion was 
carried, and the district composed of the 
parishes of St. Landry and Calcasieu, with 
two senators, was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the fifth district of the majority 
report, viz : 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena, and Livingston, shall compose the 
fifth district. 

Mr. Wederstrandt moved that the 
parish of West Feliciana, shall compose 
one district, with one senator, the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Downs, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, McCallop, McRae,O’Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St.* Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Stephens, Waddill, Weder- 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 115 


strandt and Wikoff—voted in the affirma¬ 
tive; 34 yeas. 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, I ^ewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Wadsworth, Winchester and Win¬ 
der—26 nays ; consequently said motion 
was carried, and the parish of West Feli¬ 
ciana constitutes one senatorial district, 
and is entitled to one Senator. 

On motion of Mr. Scott of Feliciana, 
the parish of East Feliciana was constitu¬ 
ted in one district, with one senator. 

Mr. McRae moved that the Parishes of 
St. Helena and Livingston shall form one 
district. 

Mr. Labauve moved to amend the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. McRae, by adding to said dis¬ 
trict the parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany; the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg , Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—30 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent,Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson , Lcdoux, 
McCallop, McRae, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Waddill, and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—32 nays ; consequently 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Penn then moved that the parishes 
of St. Helena and Livingston shall form 
one district, with one senator, the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, O'Bryan, 
Peets, Penn,Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston , Prud¬ 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
19 


Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Waddill, and Weder - 
strandt voted in the affirmative—33 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Chinn , Claiborne, Conrad 
of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Eustis, Garcia, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre , Lewis, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Sellers, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wads- 
worth, Winchester and Winder voted in the 
negative—28 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the district composed 
of the parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton, with one senator was adopted. 

Mr. Penn moved that the parishes of 
Washington and St. Tammany shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator, and 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
O'Bryan, Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott ofSt. Landry, Prcstsn, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scoff 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Waddill and Wederstrandt vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—37 yeas; and, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Garcia, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor ofAssumption, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—23 nays; the 
motion was carried, and the district com¬ 
posed of the parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, with one senator, was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Sellers, the parishes 
of Tensas and Concordia shall compose 
one district, with one senator, was adopted. ^ 
Mr. Sellers moved that the parishes of 
Carroll and Madison shall form one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Garrett moved that the parishes 
of Morehead, Union and Jackson, shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

On a motion that the Convention adjourn 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock a. m., the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Briant, Ce¬ 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or- 



146 


Journal of the Convention oj Louisiana. 


leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Garc ia, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Lewis, McCallop, 
Maziireau, Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry ,Winchester and Win 
der voted in favor of the 
and 


adjournment—22 


yeas ; 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton , Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, 'Dunn, Euslis, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, O’ Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Bailiff, Bead, Roman, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted against 
the adjournment—37 nays; the motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. Garrett by adding the parish 
of Ouachita to said district. 

Mr. Aubert moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. 
m,, the yeas and nays being caked for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Briant, 
Cenes, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Euslis, 
Garcia, Hudspeth, Kenner , King, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis , McC allop, Mazu- 
rcau, Pugh, Roman, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor ofSt. Landry, 
Voorhies, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—29 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent , Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs,Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, O'Bryan, 
Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston , Prud- 
homme, Ratliff , Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—29 nays; the vote being equally' 
divided, the President voted in the negative, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

After some discussion on the motion of 
Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Kenner moved that the 
Convention adjourn till to-morrow, at 10 
o’clock, a. m.; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad ofJefferson, Derbes, Garcia, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labr&Te, Lewis, McC allop, 
Pugh, Roman, Stephens, Taylor of As. 
sumption, Taylor of St, Landry, Voor¬ 


hies, Winchester and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Mad¬ 
ison, Splane, Waddill, and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative—28 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was lost. 

Mr. McRae then moved a call of the 
house, and the following delegates answer¬ 
ed to their names, viz: 

Messrs. Walker, President; Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Covillion, Derbes, Downs, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrelt, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, King, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers,Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill and Wederstrandt—45. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Car - 
rierc, Mayo and Porche , absent on leave; 
Messrs. Leonard and Trist, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Grymes , Ro- 
selius, St. Amand and Soule, did not ap¬ 
pear in their seats. 


Saturday, March 29, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Watkins opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

The President submitted a letter of in¬ 
vitation from major Gaily, of the Orleans 
Battalion, to attend a target shooting, 
which invitation was accepted. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, to whom was 
referred the application of the printers of 
the reports of the English debates of the 
Convention, submitted the following re¬ 
port, viz: 

The committee on contingent expenses, 
to whom was referred the application of 
the printers of the English reports of the 
Convention, for an increased compensa 







Journal of the Convention of JjOiiisiana. 


tion to be allowed them for their services, 
have the honor to report, that by a reso¬ 
lution of the Convention, adopted on the 
27th day of January, the printers of the 
English reports of the journal and debates 
of the Convention, as well as the printers 
of the French, were to receive each five 
hundred dollars during the session of the 
Convention, for ten copies of their paper, 
containing the entire proceedings of the 
Convention, to be furnished each member 
three times a week, or oftener ifnecessary, 

' to keep up with the proceedings of the 
Convention; and by a former resolution, 
adopted the 10th of August last, they were 
to have two dollars per page for the print¬ 
ing, binding and delivering in book form 
one thousand copies of the journals and 
debates of the Convention in English, and 
the same for a like number of copies in 
French. Nothing was said in either of 
those resolutions about extra printing or¬ 
dered by the Convention. In view of the 
above resolutions, the committee have felt 
themselves fully authorized to credit the 
accounts of the printers for any extra print¬ 
ing they were required to do for the Con¬ 
vention, and to allow them a fair compen¬ 
sation for the work so done. The present 
application of the printers of the English 
reports for the Convention, is mainly, it is 
believed, to obtain an extra compensation 
for furnishing the number of copies of the 
paper to the members, required under the 
resolution above referred to. Their ap¬ 
plication is in these words: They say they 
are allowed five hundred dollars for furn¬ 
ishing each member of the Convention, 
with ten copies of the paper each day; the 
papers to contain the proceedings of the 
Convention, during the sitting of that body; 
a compensation less than twenty dollars 
per day for seven hundred and seventy 
copies of the paper. This would involve 
them in an absolute loss at the rate of ten 
dollars for three hundred and twelve pa¬ 
pers; this number would be worth twen¬ 
ty-six dollars and seventy-five cents; thus, 
should the Convention sit three months, 
they would receive one thousand eight 
hundred dollars worth of papers, and ac¬ 
cording to the present arrangement, we 
should be mulcted in a loss of one thou¬ 
sand three hundred dollars on this item 
alone of the contract. The committee 
have thought proper to state the substance 


in 

ot their application, in order to possess the 
house fully ol the value of their applica¬ 
tion; the committee would suggest, that the 
election of the present printers took place 
on the same day the resolution above refer- 
ed to was adopted, and almost immediately 
after its adoption. The question of the 
removal of'the former printer, had occu¬ 
pied the attention of the Convention for 
several days previous to his removal; soon 
after the election of the present printers, 
the committee paid them the five hundred 
dollars, allowed them by said resolution, 
in compensation for the subscription of the 
Convention to their paper, and since then 
the printers of the English journals and 
debates have received for extra printing, a 
further sum of five hundred dollars. It is 
proper to say, that, according to their ac¬ 
count for extra printing, now in the hands 
of the committee, they have done extra 
printing to more than sufficient to cover 
that sum, and which the committee will 
report upon as soon as they can avail 
themselves of the necessary information 
in relation to the value of the work. 

The committee feel fully assured, that 
the printers of the Convention became 
candidates for the office of printers with a 
full knowledge of the compensation to be 
allowed them, both for their paper, and 
their journal and debates, to be printed in 
book form; and nothing was left in doubt 
or uncertainty, in. entering into the con¬ 
tract, but the extra printing; which the 
committee will, unless otherwise instruct¬ 
ed, always pay for at a fair compensation 
as fast as the work is done. The com¬ 
mittee feel satisfied, that the Convention 
has paid to the printers of the English de¬ 
partment, as much money as has been au¬ 
thorized under the contract; and they are 
of opinion, that no further compensation 
aside from the contract, be allowed them, 

Mr. Sr lane moved to lay the above re¬ 
port on the table, subject to call, which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved , That the report made by the 
committee on contingent expenses, be re¬ 
ferred back to the same committee, with 
instructions to inquire what amount of 
compensation ought with justice to be 
given to the printers of the reports of the 
debates of the Convention, for furnishing 







143 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


to each member of tiie Convention ten 
copies of the newspaper, containing the re¬ 
ports. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of 
this resolution; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. iBrazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton , Cade, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Downs , Garrett, 
Humble , Hynson, Lends, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peels , 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avo}^elles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies , 
Waddill, TVederstrandt , JPikoff and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—36 yeas ; 
and, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Chinn, 
Conrad of Olreans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Derbes, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Mazu- 
. reau, Prudhomme, Pugh Ratliff, Roman, 
Saunders, Sellers, and Winchester voted in 
the negative—-18 nays; consequently the 
resolution was adopted. 

Mr. Splane' gave notice that he would 
on Wednesday next, move to reconsider 
the vote making one senatorial district of 
the parishes of St. Mary and St. Martin. 

# Mr. Chinn gave notice that he would on 
Wednesday next, move to reconsider the 
vote allotting to the* senatorial district 
formed of the parishes of Iberville and 
West Baton Rouge, one senator. 

Mr. Pugh gave notice that he would on 
a future day, introduce a section to fhe 
effect, that each parish shall pay the ex¬ 
penses of its representation in the general 
assembly. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 

-senatorial* districts, each of which 

shall elect four senators, to be voted for by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives, 
as follows : 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

The parish of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and that portion of the parish of Orleans on 
the right bank of the river, shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 


John the Baptist, shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes ofSt. James and Ascension, 
shall compose one district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one ^district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Eeliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton, shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The paiishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose ■ one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita, Union, Frank¬ 
lin, Morehouse, Catahoula and Caldwell 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Claiborne, Sabine, Bossier and De 
Soto shall compose the seventh district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall ha \re 
the power in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be en¬ 
titled to elect two senators. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Ben- 





149 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


jamin to amend the motion of Mr. Garrett, 
by adding the parish of Ouachita to the 
senatorial district composed of the parishes 
of Morehouse, Union and Jackson. The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Claiborne , Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Garcia, 
Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Wadsworth and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—18 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Bourg , Brazeale, Brent, B riant, 
Brumfield , Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Co¬ 
villion, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, 
Humble,Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae , Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott - of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens*. Voorhies, Waddill, Wed- 
erstrandt and Wikojf voted in the negative 
—41 nays ; consequently the motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Garrett then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the senatorial district composed of 
the parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson, with one senator. The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Bri- 
ant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Soule, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wedersirandt and Wikoff voted in the 
affirmative—yeas 38; and ^ 

Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Garcia, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Lewis. 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Sellers, and Taylor of St. Landry 
voted in the negative—18 ayes; conse¬ 
quently the motion was carried, and the 
district composed of the parishes of More¬ 
house, Union and Jackson, with one sena¬ 
tor was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, the district 
composed of the parishes of Franklin and 
Catahoula, with one senator, was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Brent, the district 
composed of the parish of Rapides, with 
one senator, was adopted. 


On motion of Mr. Peets, the district 
composed ot the parishes of Bossier and 
Claiborne, with one senator, was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Brazeale, the district 
composed of the parishes of Natchitoches 
and Sabine, with two senators, was adopt¬ 
ed. 

On motion of Mr. Porter, the district 
composed of the parishes of Caddo and De 
Soto, with one senator, was adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of 
the district composed ol the parishes of 
Ouachita and Caldwell, with one senator; 
the yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi¬ 
koff voted in the affirmative—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Auburt,, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, 
Hudspeth, King, Lewis, Mazureau, Roman, 
Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, and Taylor of 
St. Landry voted in the negative—16 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried, and 
the senatorial district composed of the 
parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell, with 
one senator, was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Marigny, the Con¬ 
vention took up the first district of the ma¬ 
jority report, which had been laid" on the 
table, subject to call, viz: 

“All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall comprise the first district. 

On motion of Mr. Soule four senators 
were allotted to said district. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next, at 10 o’clock a. 
m.; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, 
Chinn, Culbertson, Derbes, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, ‘ Lewis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, and Taylor of St. Landry, voted 
in the affirmative—and 

Messrs, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, 






150 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott, of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Yoorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Wikoff voted in the negative—35 nays; 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Culbertson the moved that the 
said first district be divided into three sen¬ 
atorial districts, and the four senators be 
allotted to them as follows, viz: 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third ‘municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the motion of Mr. Culbert¬ 
son, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Covil lion, 
Culbertson, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the af¬ 
firmative—37 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Cenas, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Hudspeth, Lewis, Mazureau, Roman, Ro- 
selius and Taylor of St. Landry voted in 
the negative—10 nays ; consequently the 
motion was carried, and the said districts 
adopted,'as follows, viz: 

The first municipality shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

Air. Mazureau gave notice that he will 
on Wednesday next, at 12 o’clock, m., 
move to reconsider the vote dividing the 
city of New Orleans into three senatorial 
districts. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till Monday next, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Car- 
riere and Porche, absent on leave; Messrs. 
Leonard and Trist, absent on account o£ 
illness; and Messrs. Boudousquie, Grymes, 
Kenner, Labauve, St. Amand, and Taylor 


of Assumption, did not appear in their 

seats. 


Monday, March 31, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Air. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Ilsley, one of the reporters in 
English furnished the secretary with the 
receipt of the printers for the report of the 
debates of the 28th instant; and further, the 
secretary reports that the receipt for the 
report of the debates of the 27th instant 
have not yet been furnished him. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed Messrs. Scott of Baton Rouge, Hyson 
and Briant. 

On motion Mr. Guion was excused for 
non-attendance, on account of illness. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed Mr. A. Duplantion, on his furnishing 
the secretary with a substitute to act in his 
stead during his absence. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following reso- 
lution, and the same was adopted, viz”: 

Resolved , That the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be instructed to report to 
the Convention what amount of money has 
been paid to the different printers, for all 
printing done up to date, and to whom 
paid. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided in¬ 
to -senatorial districts, each of which 

shall elect four senators, to be voted lor by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives, 
as follows, viz: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall be divided as follows, viz: 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose one 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 





151 


Journal of l he Convention of Louisiana. 


% 


The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with tv^o 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba¬ 
ton Rouge shall compose one district, with' 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Pointe Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton, shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Franklin and Catahoula 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa¬ 


bine shall compose one district with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Caddo and De Soto 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

Provided , that the legislature shall have 
the power, in any year, in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be enti¬ 
tled to elect two senators. 

Mr. Downs moved* to amend the proviso, 
by striking out the words, “each to be en¬ 
titled to elect two senators,” and to insert 
in lieu thereof the words, “ having more 
than one senator.” 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption offered the 
following as a substitute for the proviso and 
amendment, viz : 

“The legislature in any year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives, shall have the 
power to divide the State into senatorial 
districts. No parish shall be divided in the 
formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall not be less than 
twenty-five, nor more than thirty-four, and 
they shall be apportioned among the sena¬ 
torial districts according to the total popula¬ 
tion contained in the senatorial districts; 
Provided , that no parish shall be entitled 
to more than one-eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators.” 

Mr. Brazeale moved that said substi¬ 
tute be laid on the table indefinitely; the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Walker, president; Brazeale , 
Brent, Brumfield., Burton, Cade, Car - 
Here, Chambliss, Downs, Humble, Mc- 
Callop, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peels, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Waddill , Wadsworth , 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the af¬ 
firmative—30 yeas ; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn , Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, King, Legendre, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mazurcau,Pugh, St.Amand, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative- 
29 nays ; consequently said motion was 
carried. 



152 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


M 


Mr. Kenner then moved to lay on the 
table indefinitely, the proviso and amend¬ 
ment offered by Mr. Downs; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg,Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Cul¬ 
bertson, Dcrbes , Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, O'Br.yan, Pugh, Rat¬ 
liff, St. Amand , Saunders, Sellers, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption,, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—37 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Downs, 
Humble, Lcdoux, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peels, Penn, Porche , Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud- 
homme, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Soule, Stephens, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill and Wederslrandt voted in the nega¬ 
tive-—28 nays ; consequently the motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Downs then offered the following 
substitute, which was adopted, viz : 

“And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district.” 

Mr. Downs offered the following as a 
substitute for the first paragraph of said 
section, viz : 

“The State shall be divided into the fol¬ 
lowing senatorial districts, and the senators 
to be elected shall be voted for by persons 
entitled to vote for representatives;” which 
substitute was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad *of Orleans, offered the fol¬ 
lowing amendment to the substitute of Mr. 
Downs, viz: 

“Who, during the last six months, shall 
have paid, or at the time of election shall 
be liable to pay a State tax of one dollar.” 

Mr. Brent moved that said amendment 
be laid on the table indefinitely; and the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs .Brazeale,Brent,, Brumfield,Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett , Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, McRea, Marig¬ 
ny, Mayo, (V Bryan, Peels, Penn, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 


St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff', Read, 
Sounders, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist , Voorhies , Wad- 
dill, Wederslrandt, Wikoff and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—49 yeas; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bout g, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Legendre, 
Alazureau , St. Amand, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wadsworth and Winchester voted in 
the negative—12 nays ; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Wadsworth gave notice that he 
would on Thursday next, move to reconsider 
the vote giving to the senatorial district 
composed of the parishes of Plaquemines, 
St. Bernard and right bank of the river, 
one senator. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended, fo wit: 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 
the following senatorial districts, and the 
senators to be elected shall be voted for 
by persons entitled to vote for representa¬ 
tives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows : 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators,* 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion 'shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge, shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


153 


The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Martin 
shall compose one district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Eeliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Living¬ 
ston, shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The paiishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson, shall compose one district with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Franklin and Catahoula 
shall compose one district, with, one sena- 
tor. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa¬ 
bine shall compose one district, with two 
senators. / 

The parishes of Caddo and DeSoto shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the said adoption, 

20 


Messrs, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur - 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble , Ledoux, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O'Bryan , Beets, Penn , Porche , 
Porter, Prescott, of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, Wad dill, Wederstrandt and Wi- 
koff voted in the affirmative — 31 yeas; and 

Messrs.Aw&er/, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson , 
Derbes, Dunn, Kustis, Garcia, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Preston, Pugh, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, TrisU. 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—34 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note— Members absent, Messrs. Briant, 
Covillion, Hynson, and Scott of Baton 
Rouge, absent on leave; Messrs. Git ion 
and Leonard absent on account of ill ness; 
and Messrs. Boudousquie , Grymes, La - 
bauve, Roman and Roselius , did not appear 
in their seals. 


Tuesday, April 1, 1345. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad-* 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr, Scott opened the pro-' 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Kerr, one of the English reporters, 
furnished the printers’ receipt for the re* 
ports of the debates of the 27th March. 

Mr. Chinn, who had voted in the major¬ 
ity against the adoption of section 10th, 
article 2d, dividing the State into senato-. 
rial districts, gave notice that he would 
move for the reconsideration cf the sec¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Ratliff, of the committee of con¬ 
tingent expenses, made the following re¬ 
port: 

The committee on contingent expenses, 
to whom was referred the resolution of the 
Convention of the olst March, instructing 
them to report to the Convention how 
much money has been paid to the printers 
of the Convention, and the amount paid 
to each, submit the following report: 

By application to the treasury depart, 
ment, we find that the sum of five thousand 






154 


Jurnal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


and seventy-four dollars have been paid 
for printing since the Convention com¬ 
menced its sitting in Jackson, including 
$100 paid to Jerome Bayon for 500 copies 
of the Journals of the Convention of 1813 
and ’12; to wit: Three thousand four hun¬ 
dred and seventy-four dollars to James 
Kelly; to Besangon & Ferguson, one thou 
sand dollars; to Jerome Bayon, five hun¬ 
dred dollars. One half of one thousand 
dollars paid to Besangon & Ferguson is 
on account of extra printing. There has 
been nothing paid to Jerome Bayon, as 
yet, for extra printing; he not having pre¬ 
sented any account to the committee. 

All of which is respectfully submitted. 
CYRUS RATLIFF, 
Chairman Committee. 

EXPENSES OF THE STATE CONVENTION FOR 
PRINTING, AND FOR COPIES OF JOUR¬ 
NALS, &C. 

Paid J. A. Kelly, printer, on ac¬ 
count of services, as per reso¬ 
lution of 12th August, 1844, $1000 00 
Paid Jerome Bayon, for 500 co¬ 
pies of Journal of 1811-12, 100 00 

Paid J. A. Kelly, printer, on ac¬ 
count of services, as per reso¬ 
lution of 24th August, 1844, 500 00 

Paid J. A. Kelly, printer, 22d 

January, 1845, 350 00 

Paid J. A. Kelly, printer, for co¬ 
pies of Journal, 22d January, 

1845, ‘ 150 00 

Paid Besangon, Ferguson & Co., 
for copies of Jeffersonian, 27th 
January, 1845, 500 00 

Paid Jerome Bayon, for copies 

of Courier, 27th Jan., 1845, 500 00 

Paid J. A. Kelly, late printer, 
balance for services, 8th Feb¬ 
ruary, 1845, 1474 00 

Paid Besangon, Ferguson & Co., 
warrant favor J. P. Benjamin, 
for printing, 15th February, 

1845, ^ 500 00 


$5074 00 

Mr. Wadsworth gave notice that on 
the reconsideration of section 10th being 
granted, he would move to refer the same 
to a committee of five, with instructions. 

With a view of furnishing the members 
an opportunity of conferring together on 
the subject of the 10th section, Mr. Tay¬ 


lor of Assumption moved for a recess of 
a half hour. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to 
amend the motion, and extend the recess 
to one hour; the amendment was lost. 

The Convention went into recess for one 
half hour. 

The half hour having expired, the Pre¬ 
sident called the Convention to order. 

Mr. Vooriiies moved to reconsider the 
10th section, 2d article. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans inquired of the 
President what would be the effect of the 
reconsideration, if granted. 

'Fhe President replied that it would 
bring before the house the whole section, 
liable to modification and amendment, as 
it was when the question for adoption was 
put and lost. 

The question of reconsideration was 
put and carried. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided 
into the following senatorial districts, and 
the senators to be elected shall be voted 
for by persons entitled to vote for repre¬ 
sentatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans, 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows: 

The first municipality shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans on the right bank of the river, shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba¬ 
ton Rouge shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 






155 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. . 

The parish of West Feliciana shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Si. Helena and Living¬ 
ston shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. « 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Franklin and Catahoula 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes ot Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa¬ 
bine shall compose one district with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Caddo and Ue Soto 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the senato¬ 
rial district from which most of it was ta¬ 
ken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

Mr. Beazeale, who had voted in the 


majority to lay indefinitely on rhe table the 
amendment offered by Mr. Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, establishing a basis of appor¬ 
tionment and empowering the legislature 
to divide the State into senatorial districts, 
moved for the reconsideration of the amend¬ 
ment. The motion prevailed. 

The legislature in any year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives, shall have the 
power to divide the State into senatorial 
districts. No parish shall be divided in 
the formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall not be less than 
twenty-five nor more than thirty-four, and 
they shall be apportioned among the sena¬ 
torial districts according to the total popu¬ 
lation contained in the several districts ; 
Provided, that no parish shall be entitled 
to more than one-eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to strike out the 
words “ have the power to.” His motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. Mayo moved to strike outthe words 
“total population.” The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Brazcale , Brent,Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Carrier e, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo , 
O ' 1 Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud - 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Scott ofBaton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, ITaddill , 
Wederstrandt and IPikoff voted in the af¬ 
firmative—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Anbert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bo'udousquie, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn , 
Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Kenner , Labauve, Legendre , 
Mazureau , Preston, Pugh, Roman, St, 
Amand, Saunders , Scott of Madison, Sel~ 
levs, Splane , Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth , 
Winchester and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—34 nays; consequently the motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to add after the words 
“ total population,” the words “ territory 
equally.” 

Mr. Downs moved to amend Mr. Lewis* 
amendment by adding after the words “ter¬ 
ritory equally,” the words “sea marshes, 
marshes, uninhabitable swamps, and sand 
banks excepted;” and on the adoption of 




156 


JoUrnal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


his amendment, the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent , Brumfield, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Downs, Humble, Me - 
Gallop , McRae, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read ? 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Taylor of 
Assumption, and TVederslrandt voted in the 
affirmative—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Genas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledour, Legendre , Lewis, Mazureau, O'¬ 
Bryan, Penn , Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston,Pugh, Roman, St, Amand, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Waddill, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—39 nays; consequently said amend¬ 
ment was lost. 

On the motion for the adoption of Mr. i 
Lewis’ amendment, the yeas and nays 
were called for, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Downs,Garrett,Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, King, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt, Wi¬ 
koff and Winder voted in the affirmative— 
30 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty , Benjamin, Bou- 
dousque, Burton, Genas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer- ! 
son; Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Kenner, Labauve, Ledour, Mazureau , Pres¬ 
ton, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Winchester voted in the negative 
—32 nays; consequently said amendment 
was lost. 

Mr. Penn moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o'clock, a. m. 
On the adoption of his motion the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brumfield, Carriere, 
Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Penn, Porter , Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme , Ratliff. 


Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Stephens , Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and Wikoff 
voted in the affirmative—30 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Beatty, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Burton,Genas, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson , Derbes, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Mazureau,, Preston, Pugh, Roman , 
St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Splane , 
Voorhies, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—31 nays ; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend Mr. Taylor’s 
amendment, by inserting before the word 
“ population” the word “ white,” and after 
the word “ population” to insert the words 
and “three-fifths of the slaves.” 

Mr, Beatty then moved for the previ¬ 
ous question. 

Before putting this question, 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 


Wednesdays April 2, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant, to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Hinton opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Isley, one of the English reporters, 
furnished the printers’ receipt for the re¬ 
port of the debates of the 31st March. 

Mr. Beatty' submitted the following re¬ 
solution, amendatory of the rules. 

“ Resolved, that all motions to lay on 
the table, shall be decided without debate.” 

“ Resolved, That when the demand of 
the previous question is sustained by the 
house, it shall proceed immediately to vote 
on all the amendments that may be offered, 
and then on the main question without de¬ 
bate.” 

And moved that the rules be dispensed 
with, and that the committee take up the 
said resolution. His motion did not pre¬ 
vail. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Mr. Chambliss for a few days. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Art. II. Sec. 10. The State shall be 
divided into the following senatorial dis¬ 
tricts, and the senators to be elected, shall 
be voted for by persons entitled to vote 
for representatives. 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 157 


All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows : 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and that portion of the parish of Orleans on 
the right bank of the river, shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist, shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascension, 
shall compose one district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St, Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator, 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one e district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 


1 he parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

The parishes of Franklin and Cata¬ 
houla shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa¬ 
bine shall compose one district, with 
two senators. 

The parishes of Caddo and De Soto 
shall compose one district, with one 

senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

Amendment offered by Mr. Taylor of 
Assumption, and under debate at the ad¬ 
journment. 

The legislature, in any year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives, shall have the 
power to divide the State into senatorial 
districts. No parish shall be divided, in 
the formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall not be less than 
twenty.five, nor more than thirty-four; 
and they shall be apportioned among the 
senatorial districts according to the total 
population contained in the several dis¬ 
tricts. Provided , that no parish shall be 
entitled to more than one-eighth of the 
whole number of senators. 

Mr. Downs moved to add before the 
words “the legislature,” the words “after 
the year 1855.” 

Mr. Beatty called for the previous 
question.” 

On the question, “ shall the previous 
question be now put?” the yeas and nays 
were called for. Mr. Saunders in the 
chair. 

Messrs. Beatty, Chinn , Conrad of Jeffer* 







158 


Journal of ths Convention of jLouisictnct . 


son, Dunn, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, 
Mazureau, Preston, Pugh and St. Amend 
voted in the affirmative—11 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Eustis , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth. Humble, Ledoux , Lewis, Mc- 
Gallop, McRae , Mcq/o, O'Bryan , Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prud¬ 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Tailor 
of Assumption, Trist, Voqrhi.es, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative 
-—48 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

On the adoption of Mr. Downs’ amend¬ 
ment, the yeas and nays were called for. 
Mr. Saunders in the chair. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere , Claiborne, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, King, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O' Bryan, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Roman, St, 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—35 yeas; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Eustis, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
ton, Pugh, Sellers, Stephens, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth and Winder voted in the negative — 
27 nays; consequently said motion was 
adopted. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend Mr. Taylor’s 
amendment by adding before the word 
“population,” the word “white,” and after 
the word “population” the words “three- 
fifths of the slaves.” 

Mr. Claiborne called for the previous 
question. 

Oa the question, “shall the previous 
question be now put?” the yeas and nays 
were called for. 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousjuie, Bourg, Brent, Brumfield, Carri¬ 
ere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes , Downs, Dunn, Eustis,Gar¬ 


cia., Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, McCallop, Mazureau, Preston , 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand,, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies , Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—44 yeas ; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale,Burton, Cade, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
O'Bryan Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott, of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the 
negative—22 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion prevailed, on the adoption of Mr. Tay¬ 
lor’s amendment as amended, viz : 

After the year 1845, the legislature, in 
any year in which they shall apportion re¬ 
presentation in the house of representatives, 
shall divide the State into senatorial dis¬ 
tricts. No parish shall be divided in the 
formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall not be less than 
twenty-five nor more than thirty-four, and 
they shall be apportioned among the sena¬ 
torial districts according to the total popu¬ 
lation contained in the several districts: 
Provided, that no parish shall be entitled 
to more than one-eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brent, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Cid- 
bertson, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
McCallop, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist , 
Voorhies, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders , Stephens, Wad- 
dill, Wadswonlh and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—26 nays; consequently said 
amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Preston moved to amend the tenth 
section, second article, by giving to tho 









159 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


parish of Jefferson ‘‘two” members in¬ 
stead of “one.” 

Pending the discussion, on motion, the 
Convention adjourned till to-morrow at 10 
o’clock, a. m. 

NoxE.-Members absent, Messrs. Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Briant and Hynson, ab¬ 
sent on leave. Mr. Leonard, absent on 
account of illness; and Messrs. Grymes, 
Marigny, Porche and Soule, did not appear 
in their seats. 


Thursday, April 3, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Hinton opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

Mr. Ker, one of the English reporters, 
furnished the printers’ receipts for the re¬ 
ports of the debates of the 29th March and 
of the 1st of April. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, of the com¬ 
mittee of revision, presented the following 
report: 

The committee of revision, to whom 
the third article of the amended constitu¬ 
tion was referred, have had the same un¬ 
der consideration, and now beg leave to 
report: 

That they recommend that the words 
“ created by law,” in the seventh line of 
the second section should be struck out. 

That section third be changed so as to 
read as follows : 

“ No person shall be eligible to the of¬ 
fice of Governor, or Lieutenant Governor, 
who shall not have attained the age of thir¬ 
ty five years, been fifteen years a citizen 
of the United States, and a resident with¬ 
in this State for the same space of time 
next preceding his election.” 

That the section numbered as section 
ten of the constitution of 1812, shall be 
changed by striking out the word “ up” in 
the second line. 

That the section now numbered as sec¬ 
tion twelve, be changed by adding before 
the first word, the words “there shall be,” 
and striking out in the second, third, fourth, 
and fifth lines, the words “shall be nomi¬ 
nated and appointed by the Governor, with 
the advice and consent of the senate, and 
commissioned.” So that the section will 
then read, 

“ There shall be a Secretary of State to 
hold his office during the time for which 


the Governor shall have been elected.” 
And the remainder of it as in the section 
already adopted. 

Your comrfiittee further recommend that 
the sections of the third article he number¬ 
ed in the order in which they are now ar¬ 
ranged. 

revised sections. 

Sec. 2. The citizens entitled to vote for 
representatives, shall vote for a Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor, at the time and 
place of voting for representatives ; the re¬ 
turns of every election shall be sealed up 
and transmitted by the proper returning 
officer, to the Secretary of State, who shall 
deliver them to the speaker of the house of 
representatives, on the second day of the 
session of the general assembly then next 
to be holden. The members of the gene¬ 
ral assembly shall meet in the house of 
representatives, to examine and count the 
votes. The person having the greatest 
number of votes for Governor shall be de¬ 
clared duly elected, but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in the 
number of votes polled for Governor, one 
of them shall be immediately chosen Gov. 
ernor by joint vote of the general assem¬ 
bly. '1 he person having the greatest num¬ 
ber of votes for Lieutenant Governor shall 
be Lieutenant Governor; but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest iu the 
number of votes polled for Lieutenant 
Governor, one of them shall be immedi¬ 
ately chosen Lieutenant Governor, by joint 
vote of the members of the generally as¬ 
sembly. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of Governor or Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor who shall not have attained the age 
of thirty-five years, been fifteen years a 
citizen of the United States, and a resi¬ 
dent within this State for the same space 
of time next preceding his election. 

Sec. 14. The Governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the Senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of 
the next session, unless otherwise pro¬ 
vided for in this constitution. 

Sec. 21. There shall be a Secretary of 
State, to hold his office during the time 
for which the Governor shall have been 
elected. The records of the State shall 
| be kept and preserved in the office of the 
secretary. He shall keep a fair register of 





- 160 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the official acts and proceedings of the Gov- j 
ernor, and when necessary shall attest 
them. He shall, when required, lay the 
Said register and all papers, minutes and 
vouchers relative to his office, before either 
house of the general assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be en¬ 
joined on him by law. 

ARTICLE THIRD. 

Sec. 1st. The supreme executive pow¬ 
er of this State shall be vested in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the Gov¬ 
ernor of the State of Louisiana. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four 
years, and together with the Lieutenant 
Governor, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows: 

Sec. 2. The citizens entitled to vote for 
representatives, shall vote for Governor 
and Lieutenant Governor, at the time and 
place of voting for representatives. The 
returns of every election shall be sealed up 
and transmitted by' the proper returning 
officer created by law, to the secretary of 
State, who shall deliver them to the speak¬ 
er of the house of representatives, and on 
the second day of the session of the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly then next to be holden, the 
members of the General Assembly shall 
meet in the house of representatives to ex¬ 
amine and count the votes. The person 
having the greatest number of votes for 
Governor shall be declared duly elected. 
But if two or more persons shall be equal 
and highest in the number of votes polled 
for Governor, one of them shall be imme¬ 
diately chosen Governor by joint vote of 
the members of the General Assembly. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for Lieutenant Governor, shall be 
Lieutenant Governor, but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in the 
number of votes polled for Lieutenant 
Governor, one of them shall be immedi- 
diately chosen Lieutenant Governor, by 
joint vote of the members of the General 
Assembly. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of Governor or Lieutenant Gov¬ 
ernor, who shall not have attained the age 
of thirty-five years, and has not been fif¬ 
teen years a free white male citizen of the 
United States, and of this State next pro¬ 
ceeding his election. 

Sec. 4. The Governor shall enter into 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 


j Monday of the January next ensuing his 
! election, and shall continue in office until 
the Monday next succeeding the day that 
his successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and his successor shall have taken 
the oath of affirmation prescribed by this 
constitution. 

Sec. 5 . No member of Congress or per¬ 
son holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious socie¬ 
ty, shall be eligible to the office of Gov¬ 
ernor or Lieutenant Governor. 

Sec. 6. The Governor shall have pow¬ 
er to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall, with the consent of the sen¬ 
ate, have power to grant pardons and re¬ 
mit fines and forfeitures, after conviction. 
In cases of treason, he may grant reprieves 
until the end of the next session of the 
General Assembly, in which the power of 
pardoning shall be vested. 

Se<?. 7. The Governor shall at stated 
times, receive for his services a compen¬ 
sation, which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the term for which he 
shall have been elected. 

Sec. 8. He shall be commander in chief 
of the army and navy of this State, and of 
the militia thereof, except when they shall 
be called into the service of the United 
States. 

Sec. 9. In case of the impeachment of 
the governor, his removal from office, 
death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the State, the pow¬ 
er and duties shall devolve upon the lieu¬ 
tenant governor for the residue of the 
term, or until the governor, absent or im¬ 
peached, shall return or be acquitted. The 
legislature may provide by law for the case 
of removal, the impeachment, death, re¬ 
signation, disability or refusal to qualify, 
of both the governor and lieutenant gov- 
ernor, declaring what officer shall act as 
governor, and such officer shall act accor¬ 
dingly, until the disability be removed, or 
for the residue of the term. 

Sec. 10. The lieutenant governor, or 
other officer discharging the duties of gov. 
ernor, shall, during his administration, re¬ 
ceive the same compensation to which the 
governor would have been entitled, had he 
continued in office. 

Sec. 11. The lieutenant governor shall, 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 



Journal oj the (Convention oj Louisiana . 


161 


senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate, the sena¬ 
tors shall elect one of their own members as 
president of the senate for the time being. 

Sec. 12. While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shal 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of re¬ 
presentatives, and no more. 

Sec. 13. He shall nominate and appoint, 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
all officers whose offices are established 
by this constitution, and whose appoint¬ 
ments are not otherwise provided for; pro¬ 
vided however , that the legislature shall 
have a right to prescribe the mode of ap¬ 
pointment to all other offices to be establish¬ 
ed by law. 

Sec. 14. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill up vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the senate, by grant¬ 
ing commissions which shall expire at the 
end of the next session, unless otherwise 
provided for in this constitution. 

Sec. 15. He may require information 
in writing from the officers in the execu¬ 
tive department, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices. 

Sec. 16. He shall, from time to time, 
give to the general assembly information 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 

Sec. 17. He may, on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions, convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place if that should have become danger¬ 
ous from an enemy or from contagious dis¬ 
orders; and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween the two houses, with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such a time as he may think proper, not 
exceeding four months. 

Sec. 18. He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

Sec. 19. Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve, he shall sign 
it; if not, he shall return it, with his ob¬ 
jections, to the house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections 
at large upon their journal, and proceed to 
21 


reconsider it. If, after such reconsidera¬ 
tion, two-thirds of all the members elected 
to that house shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by tWo-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house, 
it shall be a law; but in such cases, the 
votes of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
members voting for and against the bill 
shall be entered on the journal of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not 
be returned by the governor within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, it shall be a law, in' 
like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the general assembly by their adjournment 
prevent its return; in which case it shall 
be a law, unless sent back within three 
days after their next meeting. 

Sec. 20. Every order, resolution or vote, 
to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary, except on a question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the gov¬ 
ernor, and before it shall take effect, be 
approved by him; or being disapproved, 
shall be re-passed by two-thirds of both 
houses. 

Sec, 21. A Secretary of State shall be 
nominated and appointed by the governor, 
by and with the axlvice and consent of the 
senate, and commissioned to hold his office 
during the term for which the governor 
shall have been elected. Tbe records of 
the State shall be kept and preserved hi 
he office of secretary of State. He shall 
seep a fair register of the official acts and 
proceedings of the governor, and when 
necessary shall attest them. He shall, 
when required 1 , lay the said register and all 
papers, minutes and vouchers, relative to J 
lis office, before either house of the gen¬ 
eral assembly, and shall perform such oth¬ 
er duties as may be enjoined on him by 
aw. 

Sec. 22. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, and shall be sealed with the 
State seal, and signed by the governor. 

Sec. 23. The free white men of this* 
State shall be armed and disciplined for its 
defence; but those who belong to religious 
societies whose tenets forbid (hem to carry 
arms, shall not be compelled so to do, but’ 




162 


Journal of the Convention oj Louisiana . 


shall pay an equivalent for personal ser¬ 
vices. 

Sec. 24. The militia of this Slate shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most expedient by the 
legislature. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, said report 
was laid on the table, until printed. 

Mr. Beatty called up the resolution 
amendatory to the rules, to wit: 

1. “ Resolved , That all motions to lay on 
the table, shall be decided without debate.” 

Mr. Downs moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing after the words “lay on the table,” the 
words “ subject to call;” the amendment 
was adopted, and the resolution as amend¬ 
ed was adopted. 

2. “ Resolved , That when the demand 
of the previous question is sustained by 
the house, it shall proceed immediately to 
vote on all the amendments that may be 
offered, and then on the main question, 
without debate.” Adopted. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Art. II. Sec. 10. The State shall be 
divided into the following senatorial dis¬ 
tricts, and the senators to be elected shall 
be voted for by persons entitled to vote for 
representatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows, viz : 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose one 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba¬ 


ton Rouge shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish ofPointe Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton, shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one .sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Franklin and Catahoula 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa- 
bine shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Caddo and De Soto 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 



163 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

“After the year 1855, the legislature in 
any year in which they shall apportion 
representation in the house of representa¬ 
tives, shall divide the State into senatorial 
districts. No parish shall be divided in the 
formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall not be less than 
twenty-five, nor more than thirty-four, and 
they shall be apportioned among the sena¬ 
torial districts according to the total popula¬ 
tion contained in the senatorial districts; 
Provided, that no parish shall be entitled 
to more than one-eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to lay on the table 
subject to call, Mr. Preston’s motion to 
allow “two senators” to Jefferson. His 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the number 
of senators be fixed at thirty-two. 

Mr. Porter moved to amend Mr. Ben¬ 
jamin’s motion by saying “thirty-three,” in¬ 
stead of “thirty-two.” On the adoption of 
his motion,-the yeas and nays were called 
for. 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent , Burton , Car - 
Here, Downs, Garrett , Humble, Me Callop, 
Me Rea, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane and Wederstrandt 
voted in the affirmative—24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Boudousquie, Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, 
Cliinh, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes , 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill , Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the negative—43 
nays; consequently said amendment was 
lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to lay on the table 
Mr. Benjamin’s amendment to limit the 
number of senators to thirty-two. 

On the adoption of Mr. Downs’ motion, 
the yeas and nays were called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 


Carriere, Downs, Garrett, Humble, Legen¬ 
dre, Me Callop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott ofSt.Landry, Preston,Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne , Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Lewis , 
Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh , Ratliff, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Wikojf, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—40 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. ^ 

On the adoption of Mr. Benjamin’s 
amendment, the yeas and nays were called 
for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes , 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wad¬ 
dill, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—46 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Downs, 
Garrett, Humble, Legendre, McRae, Mayo , 
O'Bryan, Peels, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative—22 nays; conse¬ 
quently said amendment was adopted, and 
the number of senators was limited to 
thirty-two. 

Mr. Downs moved as' a substitute for 
the whole of section ten now before the 
Convention, the section numbered ten in 
the report of the majority of the legisla¬ 
tive committee. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided in¬ 
to eight senatorial districts, each of which 
shall elect four senators, to be voted" for by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives, 
as follows: 




164 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose the first district. 

The parishes of Plaquemines and St. 
Bernard, and the remainder of the parish 
of Orleans, parish of Jefferson, St. 
Charles and St, John the Baptist shall 
compose the second district. 

The parishes of St. James, Ascension, 
Assumption, Lafourche Interior and Ter¬ 
rebonne, shall compose the third district. 

The parishes of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee 
and Avoyelles shall compose the fourth 
district. 

The parishes of West Feliciana, East 
Feliciana, Washington, St. Tammany, St. 
Helena and Livingston shall compose the 
fifth district. 

The parishes of Concordia, Carroll, 
Madison, Ouachita, Union, Franklin, Ten- 
pas, Morehouse, Catahoula, and Caldwell 
shall compose the sixth district. 

The parishes of Rapides, Natchitoches, 
Caddo, Calcasieu, Claiborne, Sabine, Bos¬ 
sier and De Soto, shall compose the sev¬ 
enth district. 

The parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin, 
St. Landry, Lafayette and Vermillion, 
shall compose the eighth district. 

Provided , That the legislature shall have 
the power in any year in which they shall 
apportion representation in the house of 
representatives, to divide any one or more 
of said senatorial districts, each to be en¬ 
titled to elect two senators. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
lay indefinitely on the table the said sub¬ 
stitute. 

On the adoption of his motion the yeas 
and nays were called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Lcdoux, Lewis, McCallop, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Penn, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, 


Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—57 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Downs, Eus- 
tis, Humble, Legendre, McRae, O’Bryan, 
Preston and Splane, voted in the negative 
—10 nays; consequently the motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following re¬ 
solution, and moved its adoption. 

Resolved , that the thirteen parishes of 
Natchitoches, Sabine, De Soto, Caddo, 
Claiborne, Bossier, Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house, Ouachita, Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula, shall have but five senators. 

The yeas and nays were called for and 
gave the following result: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, Burton,Cenas, 
Cliinn, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eiistis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legen ■* 
dre, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand , 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder , voted in the affirmative—46 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Car¬ 
riere, Downs, Garrett, Humble, McRae, 
Mayo, O'Bryan , Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Read, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens , and Weder¬ 
strandt, voted in the negative—20 nays ; 
consequently said resolution was adopted. 

Mr. Brazeale stated to the Conven¬ 
tion that the delegates from the parishes 
of Natchitoches, Sabine, DeSoto, Caddo, 
Claiborne and Bossier, had agreed to the 
following distribution of senators for these 
parishes, viz: 

Parish of Natchitoches, one senator; 
Sabine, DeSoto and Caddo, one senator; 
Claiborne and Bossier, one senator. 

The Convention adopted this distribu¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Downs stated to the Convention 
that the delegates from the parishes of 
Jackson, Union, Morehouse, Ouachita, 
Caldwell, Franklin and Catahoula had 
met, and had agreed but with one dissent¬ 
ing voice to the following distribution 
among these parishes, viz: 





1G5 


Journal of the Convention Louisiana . 


Parishes of Jackson, Union, Morehouse, 
Ouachita and Caldwell, one senator; Frank- 
lin and Catahoula, one senator. 

Mr. Garrett moved to add the parish 
of Caldwell to the parishes of Franklin 
and Catahoula. 

The debate was suspended, and Mr. 
Downs moved for the reconsideration of 
the amendment offered by Mr. Taylor of 
Assumption, empowering the legislature 
to reapportion the senators, on the basis 
of total population; the reconsideration to 
be taken up to-morrow. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 10 o’clook, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Bri- 
ant, Chambliss, Covillion and Hynson, 
absent on leave; Mr. Leonard absent on 
account of illness, and Mr. Porche did not 
appear in his seat. 


Friday, April 4, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

The reporters did not furnish the prin¬ 
ters’ receipt for the report of the debates. 

Mr. Garrett moved to reconsider the 
vote given yesterday, allowing to the par¬ 
ishes of Claiborne and Bossier one senator. 

On the adoption of this motion the yeas 
and nays were called for: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg , Brumfield, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad ofOrleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Mazureau, Penn, Roman, Rosdius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—26 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Eustis, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, Wikoff and Winchester voted in 
the negative—40 nays ; consequently said 
motion was lost. 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided 
into the following senatorial districts, and 
the senators to be elected shall be voted 
for by persons entitled to vote for repre¬ 
sentatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows : 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and that portion of the parish of Orleans on 
the right bank of the river, shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist, shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascension, 
shall compose one district, with two sena¬ 
tors. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne, shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville, and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. » 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with tw r o 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings- 




166 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Ion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Morehouse, Union and 
Jackson shall compose one district, with 
-one senator. 

The parishes of Ouachita and Caldwell 
shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Franklin and Cata¬ 
houla shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Natchitoches and Sa¬ 
bine shall compose one district, with 
two senators. 

The parishes of Sabine Caddo and De 
Soto shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

After the year 1855, the legislature in 
every year in which they shall apportion 
representation in the house of representa¬ 
tives, shall divide the State into senatorial 
districts. No parish shall be divided in 
the formation of a senatorial district. The 
number of senators shall be thirty-two, and 
they shall be apportioned among the sena¬ 
torial districts according to the total popu¬ 
lation contained in the several districts : 
Provided , that no parish shall be entitled 
to more than one-eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators. 

Mr. Humble’s motion to form into one 
district the parishes of Jackson, Union, 
Morehouse, Ouachita and Caldwell, with 
one senator, and Mr. Downs’ motion to 
reconsider Mr. Taylor’s amendment em¬ 
powering the legislature to apportion the 


senate, and fixing the basis of apportion, 
ment on “ total population.” 

The Convention took up Mr. Humble’s 
amendment, viz: 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house, Ouachita and Caldwell shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

Mr. Garrett offered the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

The paiishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house and Ouachita shall form one district, 
with one senator. 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula, one district, with one senator. 

Mr. Humble moved to lay on the table 
indefinitely Mr. Garrett’s substitute. 

On the adoption of his motion the yeas 
and nays were called for: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent , Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Humble , Ledoux, Me - 
Rae, Marigny , Mayo , O'Bryan Peets , Penn, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston , Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—- 
28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brumfield, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—36 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

On the adoption of Mr. Garrett’s substi¬ 
tute the yeas and nays were called: 

Messrs. Aubert,Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brumfield, Chinn , Claiborne , Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia , Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner , King , Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders , Scott of Madison, Sellers, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist , 
Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative'—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Humble, Ledoux, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, 'Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Penn , Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres- 




Journal of the Contention of Louisiana. 167 


coll of St. Landry, Preston , Ratliff', Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Soule , Splane, Voorhies , Waddill and 
Wcderstrandt voted in the negative—27 
nays; consequently said substitute was 
adopted. 

Mr. Downs moved to reconsider Mr. 
Taylor’s amendment fixing the basis of 
“ L total population” for senatorial represen¬ 
tation. 

His motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs then moved to strike out the 
words “ after the year 1855;” his motion 
prevailed. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to strike out the 
words “ total population” and insert the 
words “ basis of electors.” 

The President decided his motion to 
be out of order, because the question had 
already been decided. 

Mr. Downs offered the following amend¬ 
ment, to be incorporated with the fourth 
section. 

“ In all future apportionments of the 
senate, the population of New Orleans on 
the left bank of the river descending shall 
be deducted from the population of the 
whole State, and the remainder of the 
population divided by the number twenty- 
eight, and the quotient or result produced 
by this division shall be the population en¬ 
titling a parish or other senatorial district 
to » Senator. Single or contiguous par¬ 
ishes shall be formed into districts having 
a population the nearest possible to the di¬ 
visor, and if a parish or district cannot be 
allowed a senator without a fraction of one 
third over or under the ratio, then a dis¬ 
trict may be formed having not more than 
two senators, but not otherwise. When¬ 
ever the election under a new apportion¬ 
ment shall have taken place, the seats of 
all the senators under the old apportion¬ 
ment shall become vacant, without regard 
to the time they had served. All apportion¬ 
ments for senators made not in strict con¬ 
formity to this section, shall be null and void, 
and after the census has been taken, and the 
general assembly convened, it shall not be 
competent for the legislature to do any 
business, except its own organization, un¬ 
til an apportionment is made in strict con¬ 
formity to this rule, and all acts and pro¬ 
ceedings of the then existing legislature, or 
any subsequent one, under an apportion¬ 
ment not in strict conformity to this con¬ 
stitution shall be null and void. • 


On motion of Mr. Benjamin, said amend¬ 
ment was laid on the tabic subject to call, 
and was ordered to be printed. 

Mr. Preston moved to reconsider the 
vote given on that part of Mr. Taylor’s 
amendment, fixing the “total population” 
as the basis of the senatorial apportion¬ 
ment, with a view of inserting in lieu 
thereof “the electors” as the basis. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
the rules were dispensed with, and the 
Convention proceeded to vote by yeas and 
nays on the reconsideration. 

Messrs, Brazedle, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Downs, Humble, Ledoux , 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels , 
Penn, Porter, Prescott, of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff', Read , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, Waddill 
and fVederstrandt voted in the affirmative 
24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benja?nin,Bourg , 
Brent, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia,Guion,Huds ■ 
petit, King, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wikojf, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the negative—37 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out the fol¬ 
lowing, to-wit: 

“All that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the east side of the Missis¬ 
sippi river, shall be divided into three sen¬ 
atorial districts, as follows: 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with one senator. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator;” and to sub¬ 
stitute all that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans, lying on the east side of the Missis¬ 
sippi river, shall compose one senatorial 
district, and shall elect four senators. 

Pending the discussion, on motion, the 
Convention adjourned till to-morrow at 
11 o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Bri- 
ant, Chambliss, Covillion and Hynson, 
absent on leave. Mr. Leonard, absent on 
account of illness; and Messrs. Grymes, 
McCallop and Porche, did not appear in 
their seats. 





168 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


Saturday, April 5, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

The reporters of the debates in English, 
did not furnish the printers’ receipts. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 
remove Mr. Ilsley, one of the English re¬ 
porters, from office. 

On motion of Mr. SotfLE, said motion 
was laid on the table subject to call. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10. The State shall be divided into 
the following senatorial districts, and the 
senators to be elected shall be voted for 
by persons entitled to vote for representa¬ 
tives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows: 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district with one senator. 

The parish of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and that portion of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist, shall compose one district,with 
one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
interior and Terrebonne, shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, shall compose one district,with 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com. 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 


lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Living'- 
ston shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany sha’ll compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More-* 
house and Ouachita, shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator. 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula, shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes-of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sena¬ 
tor. 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo, shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the senato¬ 
rial district from which most of it was ta¬ 
ken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

The legislature in every year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives, shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sen- 
atorial district. 

The number of senators shall be thirty- 
two, and they shall be apportioned among 
the senatorial districts according to the to¬ 
tal population contained in the several dis¬ 
tricts: Provided , that no parish shall be en¬ 
titled to more than one-eighth of the whole 
number of senators. 






Journal of the Convention oj ? Louisiana . 16D 


Mr. Lewis* motion to strike out the fol¬ 
lowing words, viz: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans, 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows: 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

And to substitute 

“All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall compose one senatorial dis¬ 
trict, and shall elect four senators.”— 
Which was under discussion at the ad¬ 
journment, was taken up. 

Mr. Roselius offered the following 
amendment to Mr. Lewis’ substitute: 

Provided, however, that there shall al¬ 
ways be in the senate, at least one mem¬ 
ber residing in each municipality. 

Mr. Benjamin moved for a call of the 
house, when it appeared that the following 
members were present: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, President, Ben¬ 
jamin, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carricrc, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Dcrbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, King, 
Labauve, Lcdoux, Lewis, Legendre, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazurcau, O’Bryan, 
Pects, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Ro* 
sclius, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Sou¬ 
le, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Voor- 
liies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Winchester 
and Winder. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till Monday at ten o’clock, a. 
nr. In the adoption of his motion, the 
yeas^md nays were called for: 

Messrs. Aubcrt , Benjamin , Genas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Dcrbes, Dunn, Bus- 
(is,Garcia, Garrclt, Guion, Hudspeth, King, 
Labauve, Lcdoux, Lewis , Marigny, Mazu¬ 
rcau, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Rose - 
Hus, St, Amand, Soule, Splane, and Win - 
Chester, voted, in the affiimative—31 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Burton,Cade,Carricre, 
Downs, Humble,Mayo,O' Bryan, Peels, Prc- 
22 


scott of Avoyelles, Preston, Saunders, Scott 
of Feliciana, Taylor of Assumption, Voor- 
hies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winder, 
voted in the negative—18 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried, and the 
Convention adjourned till Monday at ten 
o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Bri- 
ant, Chambliss, Covillion and Ilynson, ab¬ 
sent on leave; Mr. Leonard absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Bourg, 
Grymcs, McCallop and Porelie, did not 
appear in their scats. 

Monday, April 7 , 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Wooldkidge opened flic 
proceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Kerr furnished the printers’ receipt, 
for the debates of the 3d of April. 

On motion, leave of absence tor a few 
days was granted to Messrs. Bourg, Ratliff 
and Waddill. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 10, article 2d, continued. 

Mr. Lewis moved to strike out the fol 
lowing words, viz: 

“Ail that portion of the parish of Oilcans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall de divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows : 

“The first municipality shall compose 
one district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

“The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator.” 

And to substitute: 

“All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect lour senators.” 

And Mr. Roselxus’ amendment to Mr. 
Lewis’, viz: 

“Provided , however, that there shall 
always be in the senate at least one mem¬ 
ber residing in each municipality.” 

On motion of Mr. Chinn, one o’clock 
was fixed for taking the vote on Mr 
Lewis’ motion to strike out and inscit. 

Mr, Splane handed a letter fiom Mi. 
llsly, one of the reporters of the debates in 
English, which was read, and he moved 
that said letter be spread on the journal 
His motion was lost 






170 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


On motion ol’ Mr. Culbertson, Mr. 
Ilsley’s letter was laid on the table, subject 
to call. 

Mr. SrLANE handed in Mr. Ilsley’s 
written resignation as one of the reporters 
of the debates in English. 

Said resignation was accepted. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to abolish the 
office of second reporter of the debates in 
English. 

On the adoption of his motion, the yeas 
and nays were called for, and resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cade, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
ton, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Taylor of St. Landry and Wikoff voted in 
the affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. -Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Car- 
riere, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Hud¬ 
speth, Humble, McRae, Marigny, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the negative—26 
nays; consequently said motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the following additional sec¬ 
tion, offered by him, to wit: 

“In all future apportionments of the 
senate the population of New Orleans, on 
the left bank of the river, descending, shall 
be deducted from the population of the 
whole State, and the remainder of the 
population divided by the number twenty- 
eight, and the quotient or result produced 
by this division shall be the population 
entitling a parish or other senatorial dis¬ 
trict to a senator. Single or contiguous 
parishes shall be formed into districts hav¬ 
ing a population the nearest possible to the 
divisor; and if a parish or district cannot 
be allowed a senator without a fraction of 
one-third over or under the ratio, then a 
district may be formed having not more 
than two senators, but not otherwise. 
Whenever the election, under a new ap¬ 
portionment shall have taken place, the 
seats of all the senators under the old ap¬ 
portionments shall be vacant, without re¬ 
gard to the time they had served. All ap¬ 


portionments for senators, made not in 
strict conformity to this section, shall be 
null and void; and after the census has 
been taken, and the general assembly con¬ 
vened, it shall not be competent for the 
legislature to do any business, except its 
own organization, until an apportionment 
is made in strict conformity to this rule; 
and all acts and proceedings of the then 
existing legislature, or any subsequent one, 
under an apportionment not in strict con¬ 
formity to this constitution, shall be null 
and void.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to strike out the 
following words: 

“Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the divisor, and if 
a parish or district cannot be allowed a sen¬ 
ator without a fraction of one-third over or 
under the ratio, then a district may be 
formed having not more than two senators, 
but not otherwise.” 

It being now 1 o'clock, the hour fixed 
for taking the vote on Mr. Lewis’ motion 
to strike out the following words : 

“All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall be divided into three senatorial 
districts, as follows : 

The first municipality shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The second municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The third municipality shall compose 
one district, with one senator.” 

And to substitute the following words . 

“All that portion of the Parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators.” 

Mr. Marigny moved to divide the ques¬ 
tion—that is, that the question be first put 
upon the striking out. The division was 
granted. 

On the adoption of Mr. Lewis’ motion 
to strike out, the yeas and nays were called 
for. 

Messrs. Auburt, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con. 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul- 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan. 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


171 


dry and Voorhies voted in the affirmative 
—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Humble, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Hayo, O’Bryon, Peets, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Trist, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoffi voted in the 
negative—26 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend Mr. Lew¬ 
is’ amendment by adding “that part of the 
parish of Orleans situated on the right 
bank of the Mississippi river to the sena¬ 
torial district of New Orleans.” 

On the adoption of his amendment the 
yeas and nays were called for. 

Messrs. Beatty, Carriere, Downs, Le- 
doux, Legendre, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, Trist and 
Voorhies voted in the affirmative—18 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Brent, Burton • Cade, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Penn, Porche, Preston, Pugh, Roman, Ro- 
selius, Saunders, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Weder¬ 
strandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
negative—42 nays; consequently said 
amendment was lost. 

On the adoption of Mr. Lewis’ amend¬ 
ment as amended by Mr. Roselius, the 
yeas and nays were called for. 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Carrett, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor ot As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies 
affd Winder voted in the affirmative—30 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, 
Humble, Ledoux, McRae, Marigny,Mayo, 
O’Bryan Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. LaTidry, 


Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Stephens, Trist, Wederstrandt and Wikoff 
voted in the negative,—31 nays; conse¬ 
quently said amendment was lost. 

Mr. Marigny obtained leave to spread 
upon the journal, that he voted against 
the adoption of the clause as amended, 
because New Orleans is entitled to more 
than four senators; five should have been 
given to it—two for the first municipality 
—two for the second municipality and one 
for the third municipality. 

Mr. Preston moved to amend the 10th 
section, second article, by filling the blank 
with the words 

“That each municipality of the city of 
New Orleans shall elect one senator with¬ 
in its limits, and a senator shall be elected 
by the vote of the whole city of New Or¬ 
leans.” 

On the adoption of his amendment the 
yeas and nays were called for. 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Humble, 
Ledoux, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe~ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Trist and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—28 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazaureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Wikoff and Winder voted in 
the negative—33 nays; consequently said 
amendment was lost. 

Mr. Soule moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow at ten o’clock, a. m.; 
on the adoption of his motion the yeas and 
nays were called for, which was, 23 yeas 
and 37 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Eustis, who had voted in the ma¬ 
jority, moved to reconsider Mr. Lewis’ 
amendment. 

On the adoption of his motion the yeas 
and mays were called for: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou-' 
dousquie, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con- 



172 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana - 


rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Lesendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—34 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Garcia Humble, Ledoux, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Soule, Trist, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the neg¬ 
ative—25 nays. 

Mr. McRae moved for for a call of the 
house, when it appeared that the follow¬ 
ing members were present: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, President; Au- 
hert , Beallij, Benjamin , Boudousquie , Ifra- 
zeale , Brent , Burton, Carriere , Cenas, 
Chinn , Claiborne , Conrad, of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Qtdberlson , Derbes, 
Downs, ~Dunn , Eustis , Garcia , Garrett > 
Grymes , Guion , Hudspeth, Humble , Jtiew- 
wer, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu- 
rcau, O'Bryan, Peels, Porter, Prescott, 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres- 
ton, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Ro¬ 
selius, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
of Feliciana, /S'co^ of Madison, $eZ- 
lers, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies , JVeder- 
strandt and Winder —58 members. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow, at ten o’clock. 

Note— Members absent, Messrs. Bourg, 
B riant, Chambliss, Covillion, Hynson , 
Ratliff, and Waddill, absent on leave; Mr. 
Leonard, absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Brumfield, MeCallop, St. Amand, 
Wadsworth and Winchester. 


Tuesday, April 8, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Beatty opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. R. J. Kerr furnished the secretary 
with the receipt of the printers to the Con¬ 
vention, for the reports in English of the 
debates of the Convention of the third in¬ 
stant, 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
ying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators. 

To which Mr. Roselius offered the fol- 
owing proviso: 

Provided, however, that there shall al¬ 
ways be in the senate at least one mem¬ 
ber residing in each municipality. 

On motion of Mr. Boudousquie the pro¬ 
viso offered by Mr. Roselius was stricken 
out, viz: 

Provided, however , that there shall al¬ 
ways be in the senate at least one mem¬ 
ber residing in each municipality. 

Mr. Soule offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz: 

Provided , the legislature which shall 
semble immediately after the adoption of 
this constitution shall pass a law abolish¬ 
ing the division of the city into three mu¬ 
nicipalities, and constituting it again as a 
single corporation, with a single council 
and a single administration. 

Mr. Saunders moved that the said 
amendment be laid on the table, subject to 
call, and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Aubcrl, Beatty, Benjamin , 
Boudousquie, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne,Conrad of New Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garre#, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McRae, Mazureau, Penn, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wikoff and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—35 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Culbertson, Garcia, Humble, 
Ledoux, Me Gallop, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Read, Roselius, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Soule, Stephens, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth and Wederstrandt voted in the nega¬ 
tive—25 nays; consequently the motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Benjamin then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the senatorial district composed of 
“all that portion of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the cast side of the Missis¬ 
sippi river, with four senators.” The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Auberl, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne , Con 




173 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


rad of New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Derbes , Dunn , Emits, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lends, Mazureau, Pugh Roman, Ro- 
selius, St. Am and, Saunders, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
iPads worth and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—-32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriers, Culbertson, Downs, 
Garcia, Humble, Lcdoux, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Penn, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Trist, 
Wad dill, Wadsworth, TVedersPrandt and 
Wilcoff voted in the negative—30 nays ; 
consequently the motion was carried, and 
the senatorial,district composed of all lhat 
portion of the parish of Orleans lying on 
the east side of the Mississippi river, with 
four senators, was adopted, g 

Mr. Soule then gave notice that he 
would, on a future day, move to reconsider 
the vote adopting the above senatorial dis¬ 
trict. 

Mr. Roselius moved the adoption of the 
tenth section, as amended, viz: 

Art. II. Sec. 10. The State shall be 
divided into the following senatorial dis¬ 
tricts, and the senators to be elected shall 
be voted for by persons entitled to vote for 
representatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
ying on Ijie east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall compose one senatorial district, 
with four senators. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and that portion of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
otic district with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
fhe Baptist, shall compose one district,with 
one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

Here Mr. Trist gave notice that he 
would, on a future day, move to reconsider 
the vote forming one senatorial district, 
with two senators, of the parishes of St. 
James and Ascension. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 


Interior and Teriebonne, shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and AVest Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, shall compose one district,with 
one senator. 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com 
pose one district, with one senator. 

1 he parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Mary and St. Mar¬ 
tin shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

Mr. SrLANE moved to amend the said 
senatorial district by dividing it into two 
separate districts, with one senator to 
each. n 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin the taking 
of the vote on the motion of Mr. Splane, 
was postponed until to-morrow, at one 
o’clock, p. m. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Bourg , 
Briant, Chambliss, Covillion and Ratliff, 
absent on leave; Messrs. Leonard and 
Porche, absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Kenner and Winchester did not 
appear in their seats. 


AVednesday, April 9, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro 
ceedings with prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Garcia, the reading 
of the minutes of the preceding day was 
dispensed with. The honorable delegate 
then anounced to the Convention the lamen¬ 
table news of the death of one of its mem¬ 
bers, Mr. Gilbert Leonard, the senatorial 
delegate from the parish of Plaquemines. 

Mr. Wadsworth then offered the fol¬ 
lowing resolutions, and the same were 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , That this Convention has 
heard with deep regret the news of the de¬ 
mise of their colleague, the honorable 
Gilbert Leonard, in whose death Louisi¬ 
ana deplores the loss of an able and 
faithful servant, and this Convention one of 
its most respected members. 

Resolved, That the family of the deceased 





174 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


be requested to deliver over his remains to 
be buried by the Convention, and a com¬ 
mittee be appointed to consult with the 
family to that effect, and make the neces¬ 
sary arrangements for the funeral. 

Resolved , That the members of the 
Convention wear crape for the space of 
thirty days, on the left arm, a token of re¬ 
spect for the deceased. 

Resolved , That as a mark of respect for 
the deceased, this Convention do now ad¬ 
journ until to-morrow morning at the usual 
hour, and that a copy of these resolutions 
be transmitted by the secretary to the 
family of the deceased. 

The President appointed Messrs. 
-Wadsworth, Carriere, Garcia, Saunders 
and Downs members of the committee of 
arrangement. 

The Convention then adjourned until to¬ 
morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 


Thursday, April 10, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The R ev. Mr. Clark addressed the 
Throne of Grace. 

In consequence of the preparations for 
the burial of the Hon. Gilbert Leonard, 
deceased, 

The Convention adjourned till to-morrow 
at 10 o’clock, a. m. 


Friday, April 11, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos- 
pel, the honorable Mr. Stephens, at the 
request of the President, opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Wikoff was excused for non-at¬ 
tendance on account of illness. 

On motion leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Aubert, Guion, Penn, Read, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies and Mc¬ 
Rae. 

Mr. Humble submitted the following 
resolution: 

Resolved , that from and after Monday, 
the 14th inst. the Convetion shall meet at 
nine o’clock, and at that time a call of the 
house shall be made, and the absentees 
marked. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
resolution by inserting the words “ five 
ocloc’k p. m.” instead of the words “ nine 


o’clock;” which amendment was accepted 
by Mr. Humble, and the resolution as 
amended was adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that from and after Monday, 
the 14th inst. the Convention shall meet at 
five o’clock p. m., and at the hours of meet¬ 
ing in the morning and evening, a call of 
the house shall take place, and the absen¬ 
tees be marked. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 10, continued. The parishes of 
St. Mary and St. Martin shall compose one 
senatorial district with two senators. 

The question under discussion was the 
motion of Mr. Splane to amend, by dividing 
the said district into two separate districts, 
with one senator to each. 

Mr. Roman moved that the amendment 
of Mr. Splane be laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely, and called for the yeas and nays, 
which resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin , Bourg, Briant,Chinn, 
Claiborne , Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertsoji, Derbes, Dunn , Gar¬ 
rett , Hudspeth, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis , 
Mazureau , Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, 
Saunders, Sellers and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—22 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Downs, Eustis, 
Humble, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O - 
Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Sp>lane, Stephens, 
Trist, Wad-dill , Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the negative—30 
nays ; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Splane then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the amendment, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, resulted as follows: 

Messrs, Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Downs, Eustis , 
Humble, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’- 
Bryan, Beets, Porter, Prescott, of Avoy- 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Soule , Splane, 
Trist, Waddill , Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—30 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Chinn , 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Labauve , Legendre, Lew 
is, Mazureau, Pugh , Roman, Saunders, Set- 






Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 175 


levs and Winchester voted in the negative— 
21 nays; consequently the amendment was 
carried, and the district composed of the 
parish of St. Mary, with one senator, and 
the district composed of the parish of St. 
Martin, with B one senator, were adopted. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton, shall compose one district, with- one 
senator. 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Jackson Morehouse, 
Union and Ouachita shall compose one 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Franklin, Caldwell and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall be 
created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of it was 
taken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

The legislature, in every year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives, shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district. The number of senators 


shall be thirty-two, and they shall be ap¬ 
portioned among the senatorial districts 
according to the total population contained 
in the several districts; provided, that no 
parish shall be entitled to more than one- 
eighth of the whole number of senators. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend, by adding 
after the words “ no parish shall be divided 
in the formation of a senatorial district,” 
the words “ except the parish of Orleans.” 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question. 

The President then put the question, 
“ shall the main question be now put?” and 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty , Brazeale, Brent, Bur. 
ion, Cade, Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Hum¬ 
ble, Ledoux, Lewis, Me Callop, Marigny, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Beets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Bailiff, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Trist,Waddill and Wed- 
erstrandb voted in the affirmative—28 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Ce- 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Dunn , 
Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Mazureau, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saun- 
derjs, Sellers, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—26 nays; 
consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Downs then moved for the adoption 
of the amendment, and the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Humble, 
Ledoux, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott ofMad- 
ison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Trist, Wad- 
dill and Wederstrandt voted in the affir¬ 
mative—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—27 nays; consequently 
said amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following 
amendment, viz: 




176 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The city of New Orleans shall not be 
divided by any legislative act, in the ap¬ 
portionment of senators. 

On the motion to adopt said amendment, 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Ce¬ 
lias, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbcs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, Saunders, Sellers, Wads¬ 
worth, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Humble, Le- 
doux, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Poets, Porter, Prescott ol Avoyelles, Ratliff, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splanc, Stephens, 
Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—27 nays; the President voted 
in the minority, which made the vote equal, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin gave notice that he would 
on Tuesday next, move to reconsider all 
the votes given on that day. 

Mr. Downs then moved for the adoption 
of the section as amended, viz: 

AKTIOLE II. 

Section 10. The State shall be divided 
into the following senatorial districts, and 
the senators to be elected shall be voted 
for by persons entitled to vote for represen¬ 
tatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river, shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators. 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Orleans 
on the right bank of the river, shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. John 
the Baptist shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of St. James and Ascen¬ 
sion shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
interior and Terrebonne shall compose one 
district, with two senators. 

The parishes of Iberville and West Ba- 
ton Rouge shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 


The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator. 

The parish ofPoifttc Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of AvOyellqs shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with One 
senator. 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators. 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

'Flic parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parishes of Jackson, Morehouse, 
Union and Ouachita shall compose one 
district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula, shall compose one district, with 
one senator. 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator. 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator. 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with one 
senator. 

And whenever a new parish shall bo 
created, it shall be attached to the senato¬ 
rial district from which most of It was ta¬ 
ken, or to another contiguous district, at 
the discretion of the legislature, but shall 
not be attached to more than one district. 

The legislature, in every year in which 
they shall apportion rcprcsenlat'on in the 
house of representatives, shall divide the 





177 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district, the parish of Orleans except¬ 
ed. The number of senators shall be thir¬ 
ty-two, and they shall be apportioned among 
the senatorial districts according to the to¬ 
tal population contained in the several dis¬ 
tricts; provided that no parish shall be en¬ 
titled to more than one-eighth of the whole 
number of senators. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to adjourn till to¬ 
morrow at 11 o’clock, a. m.; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brianl , Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Eustis, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Roselus, Trist , Waddill and Wadsworth 
voted in the affirmative—14 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazcale, Brent, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chinn, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garcia, Gar¬ 
ret, Hudspeth, Humble, Ledoux, McCallop, 
Marigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Stephens, Wederstandt, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—39 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

On the motion to adopt the section as 
amended, the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Byirton, 
Cade, Carriere, Downs, Garcia, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Porter,Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—34 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Legendre, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Wadsworth and Winchester voted in 
the negative—19 nays; consequently said 
section as amended, was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to adjourn 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m.; the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Cenas, Clai¬ 
ms 


borne, Conrad of Orleans, Derbes, Garcia, 
Labauve, Legendre, Mazureau, Roman, 
Roselius, Stephens and Wadsworth voted 
in the affirmative—14 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chinn, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, W addill, Wederstrandt, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the negative—36 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the Conven¬ 
tion took up the following additional sec¬ 
tion, offered by him, to wit: 

“In all future apportionments of the 
senate the population of New Orleans, on 
the left bank of the river, descending, shall 
be deducted from the population of the 
whole State, and the remainder of the 
population divided by the number twenty- 
eight., and the quotient or result produced 
by this division shall be the population 
entitling a parish or other senatorial dis¬ 
trict to a senator. Single or contiguous 
parishes shall be formed into districts hav¬ 
ing a population the nearest possible to the 
divisor; and if a parish or district cannot 
be allowed a senator without a fraction of 
one-third over or under the ratio, then a 
district may be formed having not more 
than two senators, but not otherwise. 
Whenever the election, under a new ap¬ 
portionment shall have taken place, the 
seats of all the senators under the old ap¬ 
portionments shall be vacant, without re¬ 
gard to the time they had served. All ap¬ 
portionments for senators, made not in 
strict conformity to this section, shall be 
null and void; and after the census has 
been taken, and the general assembly con¬ 
vened, it shall not be competent for the 
legislature to do any business, except its 
own organization, until an apportionment 
is made in strict conformity to this rule; 
and all acts and proceedings of the then 
existing legislature, or any subsequent one, 
under an apportionment not in strict con¬ 
formity to this constitution, shall be null 
and void.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to strike out the 
following words: 





178 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


“Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the divisor, and if 
a parish or district cannot be allowed a sen¬ 
ator without a fraction of one-third over or 
under the ratio, then a district may be 
formed having not more than two senators, 
but not otherwise.” 

IVJr. Downs moved for a division, that is, 
that the Convention first proceed to strike 
out the words “ single or contiguous par¬ 
ishes, shall be formed into districts having 
a population nearest the divisor.” 

Mr. Conrad -of New Orleans, moved to 
lay on the table indefinitely, the following 
paragraph of said section, viz: 

“ In all future apportionments of the sen¬ 
ate the population of New Orleans, on the 
left bank of the river, descending, shall be 
deducted from the population of the whole 
State ; and the remainder of the population 
divided by the number twenty-eight, and 
the quotient or result produced by this di¬ 
vision shall be the population entitling a 
parish or other senatorial district to a sena¬ 
tor. Single or contiguous parishes shall 
be formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the divisor ; and if 
a parish or district cannot be allowed a 
senator, without a fraction of one-third 
over or under the ratio, then a district may 
be formed having not more than two sen&- 
tors, but not otherwise. ” 

Mr. Downs submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

“ Resolved, That all motions fox recon¬ 
sideration shall be decided without debate.” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, submitted 
the following amendment, viz: 

“ Resolved , That no vote on the constitu¬ 
tion shall be reconsidered, unless there be 
a greater number of members present when 
the vote for a reconsideration is taken, 
than when the original vote was taken. ” 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. 
Porche, Taylor of Assumption and Wikoff, 
absent on account of illness ; Messrs. Au- 
bert, Chambliss, Covillion, Guion, Penn, 
Read, Taylor of St. Landry and Voorhies, 
absent on leave ; and Messrs. Boudousquie, 
Brumfield, Grymes, Kenner, King, McRae 
and St. Amand did not appear in their 
seats. 


Saturday, April 12, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the lion. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the President, opened the proceedings 
ysrith prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of 
the printers for the reports of the debates 
in English, of the 8th inst. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Messrs. Chinn, Derbes, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, and Saunders. 

On motion, Mr. Hudspeth was excused 
for non-attendance, on account of illness. 

The Convention then took up the follow¬ 
ing resolution, offered by Mr. Downs on 
yesterday, viz: 

Resolved , that all motions for reconside¬ 
ration be decided without debate. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of 
said resolution; the yeas and nays being 
called for, (Mr. Claiborne in the chair) re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty , Braze ale, Brent, Bui-ton, 
Cade, Carriere, Covillion , Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bry¬ 
an, Peels, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Prudhomme , Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Splane, Stephens, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative— 27 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Ce- 
nas, Conrad of Orleans, Eustis, Mazu- 
reau, Porter, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Ro - 
selius, Sellers , Taylor of Assumption, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative 

'—< 

—17 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried, and the resolution adopted. 

The Convention then took up the fol¬ 
lowing resolution, offered oil yesterday by 
Mr. Conrad of Orleans, viz: 

Resolved that no vote on the constitu¬ 
tion shall be reconsidered, unless there be 
a greater number of members present when 
the vote for a reconsideration is taken, than 
when the original vote was taken. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following as a 
substitute for the said resolution, and the 
same was accepted by Mr. Conrad, viz: 

Resolved, that no vote on the constitu¬ 
tion shall be reconsidered, unless a greater 
number of members vote for the reconside¬ 
ration than voted in favor of the motion 
which it is proposed to reconsider. 





179 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the above substitute, (Mr. 
Claiborne in the chair) resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin , Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent , Briant, Burton, Cade, Car¬ 
rier e, Cenas, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
Culbertson , Downs , Dunn, Garrett, Hyn- 
scm, McCallop, Mayo, Mazureau, Peels, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Rosclius, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder, 
voted in the affirmative—36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Eustis, Humble, Marigny, O'¬ 
Bryan, Porter and Ratliff voted in the neg¬ 
ative—6 nays ; consequently the motion 
Was carried, and the substitute adopted. 

The Convention then proceeded to the 
ORDER OF THE DAY, 
it being the additional section offered by 
Mr. Downs, viz: 

In all future apportionments of the sen¬ 
ate, the population of the city of New Or¬ 
leans shall be deducted from the population 
of the whole State, and the remainder of 
the population divided by the number twen¬ 
ty-eight, and the quotient or result produ¬ 
ced by this division, shall be the popula¬ 
tion entitling a parish or other senatorial 
district to a senator. Single or contiguous 
parishes shall be formed into districts hav¬ 
ing a population the nearest possible to the 
divisor, and if a parish or district cannot 
be allowed a senator without a fraction of 
one-third over or under the ratio, then a dis¬ 
trict may be formed having not more than 
two senators, but not otherwise. When¬ 
ever the election under a new apportion¬ 
ment shall have taken place, the seats of all 
the senators under old apportionments 
shall be vacant, without regard to the 
time they had served. All apportionments 
for senators, made not in strict conformity 
to this section, shall be null and void, and 
after the census has been taken and the 
general assembly convened, it shall not be 
competent for the legislature to do any 
business except its own organization, un¬ 
til an apportionment is made in strict con¬ 
formity to this rule, and all acts and pro¬ 
ceedings of the then existing legislature 
or any subsequent one, under an apportion¬ 
ment not in strict conformity to this con¬ 
stitution, shall be null and void. 

Mr, Downs moved to correct the phra¬ 


seology by striking out the word ‘'divisor” 
in the thirteenth line, and insert in lieu 
thereof, the words “number entitling a 
district to a senator;” which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

Mr. Soule moved to correct the phra¬ 
seology by striking out the words “and if 
a parish or district cannot be allowed a 
senator with a fraction of one-third over of 
under the ratio,” and insert in lieu thereof, 
the words “and if in the apportionment to 
be made, a parish or district be found to 
be deficient of or to exceed by one-third 
the ratio;” which motion prevailed. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment on yesterday, was the motion 
of Mr. Conrad of Orleans, to lay indefi¬ 
nitely on the table the following paragraphs 
of said section, viz: 

In all future apportionments of the sen¬ 
ate, the population of the city of New Or¬ 
leans shall be deducted from the popula¬ 
tion of the whole State, and the remainder 
of the population divided by the number 
twenty-eight, and the quotient or result 
produced by this division, shall be the 
population entitling a parish or other sena¬ 
torial district to a senator. Single or con¬ 
tiguous parishes shall be formed into dis¬ 
tricts having a population the nearest pos¬ 
sible to the divisor, and if a parish or dis¬ 
trict cannot be allowed a senator without 
a fraction of one-third over or under the 
ratio, then a district may be formed hav¬ 
ing not more than two senators, but not 
otherwise. 

Mr. Downs moved for a division, that 
is, the Convention first proceed to act from 
the first to the tenth line, then from the 
tenth line to the thirteenth line, and the fit 
from the thirteenth line to the eighteenth 
line to the word “otherwise;” which motion 
prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for to 
lay on the table indefinitely all the words 
from the first to the tenth line, (Mr. Clai¬ 
borne in the chair) resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Dunn , Marigny, Mazureau, 
Roman and Roselius voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—11 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Covil¬ 
lion, Downs, Garrett , Humble, Hynson, 
Lewis, McC allop, Mayo, O'Bryan , Peets , 








180 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Stephens , Taylor of 
Assumption, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative 
—32 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion to lay on the table indefi¬ 
nitely all the words from the tenth line to 
the thirteenth line, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Briant , Claiborne , Conrad of 
New Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, 
Lewis, Marigny, Mazureciu, Roman, Rose- 
lius, Sellers and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—12 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Bourns, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets , Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Ratliff', Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Soule, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative— 30 nays ; con¬ 
sequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, offered as a 
substitute to the third paragraph, the fol¬ 
lowing, viz: 

And whenever contiguous parishes shall 
in the aggregate have a population suffi¬ 
cient to entitle them to two senators, they 
may be formed into two separate districts, 
provided that neither district shall have a 
population of more than one-third over or 
under the ratio. 

Mr. Downs moved to lay on the table 
indefinitely the substitute offered by Mr. 
Conrad. 

At ten minutes after one o’clock, there 
being barely a quorum, Mr. Claiborne 
moved that the Convention adjourn till 
Monday next at ten o’clock, a. m.; and the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Lewis, Pugh, Roman, Roselius 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
8 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Co- 
villion, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Ratliff, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 


Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—30 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

At sixteen minutes after 1 o’clock, Mr. 
Brent moved for a call of the house, and 
the following members answered to their 
names, viz : 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, president ; 
Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere , Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of New Orleans, Covillion, 
Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott, of Avoyelles, Pugh, 
Ratliff', Roman, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Waddill, Wadsworth and 
Wederstrandt —being in all, 37. 

Mr. Soule then moved that for the want 
of a quorum, the Convention adjourn till 
Monday next at ten o’clock, a. m.; which 
motion prevailed. 

Note— Members absent: Messrs. Hud¬ 
speth, Porche and Wikoff, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; Messrs. Aubert, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Derbes, (^uion, King, Mc¬ 
Rae, Penn, Read, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry, and 
Voorhies, absent on leave; and Messrs. 
Boudousquie, Garcia, Grymes, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Preston, St. Amand 
and Trist did not appear in their seats. 


Monday, April 14, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Mr. Beatty moved that for the want 
of a quorum, only twenty-eight members 
having answered to their names at the call 
of the roll, the Convention adjourn for one 
hour. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prudhom¬ 
me, Pugh, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—25 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brumfield, Dunn, Roman and 
Winder voted in the negative—4 nays ; 
consequently the motion was carried, and 
the Convention adjourned for an hour for 
want of a quorum. 

Note—M embers absent at the call of 






181 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the roll: Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Derbes, 
Guion, King, McRae, Penn, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry and Voorhies absent on leave; Messrs. 
Hudspeth and Porche on account of illness; 
and Messrs.Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg’ 
Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbcrstson, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Grymes, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, 
McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Roselius, St.Amand, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth and Winchester did not answer to 
their names at the call of the roll. 

At the appointed hour, the President 
called the Convention to order, and on the 
roll being called, forty-six members an¬ 
swered to their names. 

The Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the reports of the debates in 
English of the llth instant. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Second paragraph of the section offered 
by Mr. Downs, viz : -*■“ 

‘‘Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the number entitling 
a district to a senator, and if in the appor¬ 
tionment to be made a parish or district be 
found to be deficient of or to exceed by one- 
third the ratio, then a district mav be form- 
ed having not more than two senators, but 
not otherwise.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans offered at the 
last adjournment as a substitute for said 
paragraph, the following, viz : 

“ Whenever contiguous parishes shall 
have in the aggregate a population suffi¬ 
cient to entitle them to two senators, they 
may be formed into two separate districts; 
provided , that neither district shall have a 
population of more than one-third over or 
under the ratio.” 

The question under consideration at the 
last adjournment, was the motion of Mr. 
Downs, to lay on the table indefinitely the 
above substitute. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
said motion, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Humble, 


Hynson, Ledoux,McCallop, Marigny,Mayo, 
O Biy an, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyel¬ 
les, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt voted in the affirmative—-31 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Culbertson, Dunn, 
Hudspeth, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roman, Sellers, Taylor of Assumption^ 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—16 nays; consequently said motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to strike out all 
the words from the eighteenth line to the 
twenty-third line, and insert in lieu thereof 
the following substitute, viz : 

“ Whenever a new apportionment shall 
be made the term of service of all the sen¬ 
ators whose districts may be thereby altered 
or reorganized, shall expire so soon as the 
election shall take place in the new dis¬ 
tricts, without regard to the time such sena¬ 
tors shall have served under the old appor¬ 
tionment.” 

Mr. Benjamin offered as a substitute to 
the substitute of Mr. Claiborne, the follow¬ 
ing, viz: 

“No new apportionment sfiall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment.” 

Mr. Downs moved to amend the above 
substitute, by adding the words “except 
those whose districts are changed.”- Which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Br^nt moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion, and the president (Mr. Winchester in 
the chair) put the question, “shall the main 
question be now put]” The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Downs, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule 
and Waddill voted in the affirmative—18 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg,Briant, 
Cade, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Ledoux, Mayo, Mazureau, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 





182 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Wederstrandt, Wikoffand Winder voted in 
the negative'—30 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the substitute, and the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Briant , 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson,Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Hudspeth, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, Mazureau, Beets, 
Prescott, of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens , Taylor of Assumption, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the affirmative 
36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Downs , Humble, Hynson, Ma- 
rigny, O'Bryan, Porter, Read, Soule, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—-14 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the substitute 
adopted* 

Mr. Eustis moved to strike out the 
words from the twenty-third line to the 
thirty-first, line. 

Mr. Ratliff moved for a division, to 
strike out first the words from the twenty- 
third line to the twenty-fifth line; his mo¬ 
tion prevailed, and the words were strick¬ 
en out. 

On the motion to strike out the words 
from the twenty-fith line to the thirty-first 
line, the yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Briant , Burton, 
Cade, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Eustis, Hudspeth, Ledoux, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Sellers, Soule and Splane voted in 
the affirmative—22 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
McCallop, O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Preston, Read, Roselius, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in 
the negative—28 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost, 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption offered as a 
substitute for the whole section the follow¬ 
ing, viz: 

“ in all future apportionments of the sen¬ 


ate the State shall be divided into sixteen 
districts. The city of New Orleans shall 
be divided so as to form two distiicts. The 
population of the city of New Orleans 
shall be deducted from the population of 
the whole State, and the remainder of the 
population divided by the number four¬ 
teen, and the quotient produced by this 
division shall be the representative number 
entitling a senatorial district to two sena¬ 
tors. Single or contiguous parishes shall 
be formed into districts, in such manner as 
to have a population the nearest possible to 
the representative number. After the cen¬ 
sus has been taken, and the general assem¬ 
bly convened, the legislature shall not pass 
any law until an apportionment is made.” 

On the motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, for the adoption of the above substi¬ 
tute,''the yeas and nays being called for, 
resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri¬ 
ant, Cenas, Conrad of New Orleans, Eus¬ 
tis, Hudspeth, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, 
Taylor of Assumption, Winchester\ and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—17 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur* 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Claiborne , 
Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Ijedoux, McCallop, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhomme , 
Ratliff, Read, Roselius, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi¬ 
ll off voted in the negative—36 nays ; con¬ 
sequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend by adding 
after the word “legislature” in the twenty- 
eighth line, the words “to pass any laws 
after the first forty days of the session;” 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion. 

The President put the question, “ shall 
the main question be now put;” which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
amend by striking out from the third para¬ 
graph the words “ or to exceed.” The 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted 
as follows, viz: 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Briant, Ce¬ 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Orleans, 




183 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Eustis , Hudspeth, Legendre, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, Taylor of 
Assumption, Winchester and Wnder voted 
in the affirmative—17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazcale , Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son , Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, 
O'Bryan, Peels, Porter, Prescott, of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted 
in the negative—34 nays; consequently 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to strike out from 
the sixteenth line the word “may,” and in¬ 
sert in lieu thereof the word “ shall.” The 
yeas and nays being called for, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of New Or¬ 
leans, Hudspeth, Legendre, Lewis, Mazu- 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Taylor of 
Assumption, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazcale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, McCallop, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peels, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the 
negative—34 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Brent gave notice that he would, 
on to-morrow, move a reconsideration of 
the vote given on Mr. Benjamin’s amend¬ 
ment, to insert one-fifth instead of one- 
third. 

Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

“ In all future apportionments of the sen¬ 
ate the population of the city of New Or¬ 
leans shall bo deducted from the population 
of the whole State, and the remainder of 
the population divided by the number twen¬ 
ty-eight, and the quotient or result produ¬ 
ced by this division shall be the popula¬ 
tion entitling a parish to a senator. Sin¬ 
gle or contiguous parishes shall be formed 
into districts having a population the near¬ 
est possible to the number entitling a dis¬ 
trict to a senator; and if, in the apportion¬ 


ment to be made, a parish or district be 
found to be deficient of or to exceed one- 
fifth the ratio, then a district may be form¬ 
ed having not more than two senators, but 
not otherwise. No new apportionment 
shall have the effect of abridging the term 
of service of any senator already elected at 
the time of making the apportionment, and 
after the census has been taken and the 
general assembly convened, the legislature 
shall not pass any laws until the apportion¬ 
ment be made. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the above section as amend¬ 
ed, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazcale, Brent, 
Brumfield,, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, Mayo, O'Bryan, Beets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel- 
lers Soule, Splane, Stephens, Waddill , 
IVederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester vo- 
ted in the affirmative—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Eustis, Legendre, 
Mazureau, Roman, Roselius, Taylor of 
Assumption and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—12 nays; consequently the motion 
was carried, and the section as amended 
was adopted. 

Note—M embers absent at the call of the 
roll, Messrs. Aubert, Guion, King, Mc¬ 
Rae, Penn, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Taylor of St. Landry, and Voorhies, absent 
on leave; Mr. Porche, absent on account 
of illness; and Messrs. Boudousquie, Bri¬ 
ant, Cenas, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes , 
Downs, Eustis , Garcia, Grymes, Kenner, 
Labauve, Marigny, Preston, Ratliff, Rose¬ 
lius, St. Amand, Soule, Tri.st, and Win¬ 
chester did not answer to their names at 
the call of the roll. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
five o’clock this evening. 

Monday Evening, April 14, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The President called the Convention 
to order, and on the call of the roll, the fol¬ 
lowing members answered to their names, 
viz: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, President , 





184 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Genas, Downs, Eustis, Hudspeth, Humble, 
McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt and Winder—total, 31. 

Members absent at the call of the roll.— 
Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Guion, Derbes, 
McRae, Penn, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and Voorhies 
absent on leave; Messrs. Brumfield and 
Porche absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Grymes, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazaureau, 
Preston, Ratliff, Roselius, St, Amand, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff and and Winchester 
did not answer to their names at the call 
of the roll. 

At ten minutes after 5 o’clock, Mr. 
Brent moved for a call of the house, and 
the following members answered to their 
names, viz: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, President, 
Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Burton, Cade, Cenas Conrad of Orleans, 
Downs, Eustis, Hudspeth, Humble, Mc¬ 
Callop, Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Roman, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 
Winder—total, 36. 

Members absent at the call of the house: 
Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Derbes, Guion, 
King, McRae, Penn, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Voorhies absent on leave; Messrs. Porche 
and Brumfield absent on account of illness; 
and Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn,Garcia, 
Garrett, Grymes, Hynson, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazu- 
reau, Preston, Ratliff*, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Trist, Wadsworth and Wikoff did not an¬ 
swer to their names at the call of the 
house. 

After a quarter of an hour had elapsed, 


Mr. Brent moved for a call of the house, 
and the following members answered to 
their names, viz: 

Messrs. Joseph Walker, President, 
Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Conrad 
of Orleans, Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Hud¬ 
speth, Humble, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Read, Roman, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder— 
total, 39. 

Members absent at the call of the house: 
Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Derbes, Gnion, 
King, McRae, Penn, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Voorhies absent on leave; and Messrs. 
Porche and Brumfield absent on account 
of illness; and Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, 
Carriere, Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, Garcia, 
Grymes, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Roselius, St. Amand, Trist, 
Wadsworth and Wikoff did not answer to 
their names at the call of the house. 

On motion of Mr. Soule, the Conven¬ 
tion then adjourned for the want of a quo¬ 
rum, till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, a. m. 


Tuesday, April 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. T witchard opened the 
proceeding with prayer. 

Mr. Brent moved that the secretary be 
ordered to furnish the printers with a sepa¬ 
rate list, containing the names of the ab¬ 
sentees at the calls of the house. 

The yeas and nays being called for: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent\, Briant , 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillon, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, 
O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme , 
Pugh, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wed¬ 
erstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg , Cenas , Dunn , Mazureau „ 







185 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Ratliff\ Roman and Winchester voted in 
the negative—7 nays; consequently the 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Brent moved to reconsider the 
vote given on yesterday, on the adoption 
of the section offered by Mr. Downs, as 
amended; which motion was lost. 

On motion, the 3d section of article 2d, 
which had been laid on the table subject to 
call, was called up, viz: 

Sec. 3. “ Representatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday, one day only, in 
November, every two years; and the gener¬ 
al assembly shall convene on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion, in every second year, unless a differ¬ 
ent day be appointed by law; and their dif¬ 
ferent sessions, shall be held at the seat of 
government. 

“ The first election under this constitu¬ 
tion shall take place in the year -- 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the last para¬ 
graph of said section was stricken out, viz: 

“ The first election under this constitu¬ 
tion shall take place in the year-. ” 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 3. “ Representatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday, one day only, in 
November every two years; and the gener¬ 
al assembly shall convene on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion, in every second year, unless a differ¬ 
ent day be appointed by law; and their 
different sessions shall be held at the seat 
of government. ” 

On motion, the 11th section of article 
2d was called up, viz: 

Sec. 11. “At the session of the general 
assembly, after this constitution takes ef¬ 
fect, the senators shall be divided by lot as 
equally as may be into two classes; the 
seats of the senators of the first class shall 
be vacated at the expiration of the second 
year; of the second class at the expiration 
of the fourth year; so that one-half shall be 
chosed every two years, and a rotation 
thereby kept up perpetually. ” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, offered 
the following amendment, and the same 
was adopted, viz: 

“In case any district shall have elected 
two or more senators, said senators shall 
vacate their seats respectively at the end 
of two and four years, and the lots shall be 
drawn between them. 

24 


On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 11 . “At the session of the general 
assembly after this constitution takes effect, 
the senators shall be divided by lots as 
equally as may be into two classes; the 
seats of the senators of the first class shall 
be vacated at the expiration of the second 
year; of the second class at the expiration 
of the fourth year; so that one-half shall be 
chosen every two years, and a rotation 
thereby kept up perpetually. 

“In case any district shall have elected 
two or more senators, said senators shall 
vacate their seats respectively at the end 
of two and four years, and the lots shall be 
drawn between them. ” 

On motion, the 12th section was called 
up, viz: 

Sec. 12. “ No person shall be a sena¬ 
tor who, at the time of his election, has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and who has not attained the age of 
twenty-seven }’ears, and resided in the 
State four years next preceding his elec¬ 
tion, and one year in the district in which 
he may be chosen. ” 

Mr. Read offered the following as a 
substitute for said section, viz: 

Sec. 12. “ Every qualified elector shall 
be eligible to a seat in the State senate. ” 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved to 
lay said substitute on the table indefinately; 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Burton,' 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Humble, Hyn- 
son, McCallop, Mayo, O’Bryan, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—20 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion, the 12th section was then 
adopted. 

On motion, the 13th section was called 
up, viz: 

Sec. 13. “The first election for sena 







186 Journal of the Convention oj Louisiana . 


tors shall bo general throughout the State, 
and at the same timethatthe general elec¬ 
tion for representatives is held; and thereaf¬ 
ter there shall be a biennial election of sena¬ 
tors, to fill the place of those whose time 
of service may have expired. ” 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

On motion, the 23d section was called 
up, viz: 

Sec. 23. “ No person, while he contin¬ 
ues to exercise the functions of a clergy¬ 
man, priest, or teacher of any religious 
persuasion, society, or sect, shall be eligi¬ 
ble to the general assembly, or to any 
office of profit or trust under this State. ” 
Mr. Mayo moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinately; and the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Downs, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Lewis, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Pugh, 
Scott of Madison, Stephens, Waddill and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—22 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, Garrett, Le- 
doux, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Wadsworth, W ederstrandt,Wikoff and W hi¬ 
de r voted in the negative—30 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved to strike out from said 
section the following words, viz: 

“ Or to any office of profit or trust under 
this State.” Which motion prevailed. 

On motion, the section was adopted as 
amended, viz: 

Sec. 23. “No person, while he contin¬ 
ues to exercise the functions of a clergy¬ 
man, priest, or teacher of any religious 
persuasion, society, or sect, shall be eligi¬ 
ble to the general assembly. ” 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, -called up 
the following sectiqn, which had been laid 
on the table subject to call, viz: 

“ Absence from the State for more than 
sixty days shall interrupt the residence re¬ 
quired in the preceding section, unless the 
person absenting himself, shall be a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on some business, and his dwelling 


house, or the tenement for carrying on his 
business, shall be actually occupied during 
his absence, by his family or servants or 
some portion thereof, or by some person 
employed by him. ” 

On motion of Mr. Porter, said section 
was amended by adding after the word “in¬ 
terrupt,” the words “acquisition of.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to 
amend, by striking out the words “sixty 
days,” and insert in lieu thereof the words 
“four months.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
(Mr. Claiborne in the chair): 

Messrs. Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Pugh, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Waddill 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant,Carriere, 
Covillion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Le- 
doux, Lewis, O’Bryan, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the ne¬ 
gative—24 nays; consequently the motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Culbertson moved to strike out the 
word “ sixty” and insert in lieu thereof the 
word “ninety;” which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Mayo moved to lay the section and 
amendments on the table, subject to call, 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans gave notice 
that he would on a future day move to re¬ 
consider the vote given on the adoption of 
“ninety days” instead of “sixty days.” 

Mr. Humble moved to lay the section 
as amended on the table indefinitely; the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Chambliss, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Humble, Ledoux, McCallop, Mayo, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—20 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Garcia, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 187 


O’Bryan, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, 
St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, WikofF, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—34 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Beatty offered the following as a 
substitute for the whole section, viz : 

“ The legislature shall pass laws defin¬ 
ing the manner in which a residence re¬ 
quired for voters by this constitution may 
be acquired or lost.*’ 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
lay the substitute on the table indefinitely; 
the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Garcia, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—45 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Burton, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Preston, Sellers, Splane 
and Waddill voted in the negative—10 
nays; consequently the motion was adopted. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
reconsider the vote adopting “ ninety” in¬ 
stead of “ sixty” days, in order to give Mr. 
Claiborne, who was in the Chair, an op¬ 
portunity to vote. The yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Burton, Ce¬ 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Legendre, Marigny, Peets, 
Preston, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder¬ 
strandt and Winchester voted in the affir¬ 
mative—25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Co¬ 
villion, Garcia, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, 
Mazureau, O’Bryan, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Stephens, 


Taylor of Assumption and Winder voted in 
the negative—32 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption then moved 
the adoption of the section as amended, 
viz: 

Absence from the State for more than 
ninety consecutive days, shall interrupt the 
acquisition of the residence required in the 
preceding section, unless the person ab¬ 
senting himself shall be a house-keeper, 
or shall occupy a tenement for carrying on 
business, and his dwelling house or tene¬ 
ment for carrying on his business, shall bo 
actually occupied during his absence by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by some one employed by him. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said section: 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Cenas, Claiborne, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Garcia, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, 
Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Wadsworth, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder, voted in the affirmative- 
34 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Downs, Dune, 
Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Mayo, Porche, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Roselius, 
Sellers, Splane and Wedertrandt, voted 
in the negative—21 nays; consequently the 
motion was carried, and ihe section was 
adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, gave notice 
that he would on Thursday next call up a 
section offered by him and laid on the ta¬ 
ble, defining the qualifications of electors. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revision, reported the seventh article of 
the constitution. 

On motion of Mr. Downs, the report of 
the majority on the judiciary was called 
up, viz: 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
to be established throughout the State, in 
justices of the peace, and such other courts 
in the city of New Orleans as the legis¬ 
lature may, from time to time direct. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the Convention 



188 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


adjourn till to-morrow at ten o’clock, a. m. 

The President decided the motion to 
adjourn till to-morrow to be out of order. 
The Convention having adopted a rule by 
which they were to meet every evening at 
five o’clock, p. m. and unless said rule was 
rescinded, such motions cannot be allowed. 

Mr. Lewis appealed from the decision 
of the chair. 

The President then put the question, 
shall the decision of the chair be sustained? 

The appeal was rejected, and the decis¬ 
ion of the chair was sustained. 

Mr. Lewis then moved for a dispensa¬ 
tion of the rules, to rescind the resolution 
fixing the evening sessions; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Hudspeth, Hynson, Ledoux, Lew¬ 
is, Mazureau, Porche, Porter, Ratliff, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Wikoff and Win¬ 
chester, voted in the affirmative—23 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Covil- 
iion, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hum¬ 
ble, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, St. 
Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Soule, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Winder, voted in the negative—31 
nays; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, gave notice 
that he would on to-morrow move to recon¬ 
sider the vote adopting the rule fixing the 
evening sessions. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till 5 o’clock, p. m., which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Soule agreeably to notice previous¬ 
ly given, moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the senatorial apportionment of 
New Orleans; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the 
affirmative—30 yeas; and 


Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Sellers, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—20 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Soule, the considera¬ 
tion of the subject was made the order of 
the day for Friday next, at 12 o’clock, m. 

Mr. Garrett objected to the question 
of reconsideration being carried, on the 
ground that it was not carried by the ma¬ 
jority required by the rule, i. e., that the 
number voting for the reconsideration was 
less than the number who voted for the 
motion proposed to be reconsidered. 

Mr. Soule then said that, if it should be 
decided that his motion to reconsider had 
not prevailed, that he would now give no¬ 
tice that he would move for the reconside- 
ation on Friday next, at 12 o’clock, m. 

Mr. Brent moved for a call of the house, 
and fifty-two members answered to their 
names, and the following members were 
absent, viz: Messrs. Aubert, Derbes, King, 
Penn, Scott of Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. 
Landry and Voorhies absent on leave; 
Messrs. Boudousquie, Brumfield, Grymes, 
Kenner, Legendre, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Trist and 
Wadsworth did not answer to their names 
at the call of the house. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till this evening, at 5 o’clock, p. m. 

Tuesday Evening, April 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

ARTICLE FOURTH-—JUDICIARY POWER—RE¬ 
PORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 

The judiciary committee report to the 
Convention the following sections of arti¬ 
cle fourth of the constitution concerning the 
judiciary department. 

John R. Grymes, Chairman. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
to be established throughout the State, in 
justices of the peace, and such other courts 
in the city of New Orleans as the legisla¬ 
ture may from time to time direct. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 







189 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


appellate jurisdiction only except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed five hundred dol¬ 
lars. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum; each of said judges 
shall receive a salary of thousand dol¬ 
lars annually. The said court shall ap¬ 
point its own clerks. The said judges 
shall be appointed by the governor, by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
for the term of ten years. 

Sec. 4. The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in the city of New Orleans 
from the month of November to the month 
of June inclusive. The legislature shall 
have power to fix the sessions elsewhere 
during the rest of the year. Until other¬ 
wise provided, the sessions shall be held 
in New Orleans. 

Sec. 5. The supreme court and each 
of the judges thereof, shall have power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus at the in¬ 
stance of all persons in actual custody un¬ 
der civil process. 

On motion of Mr. Preston the 1st, 2d, 
3d and 4th sections of said report were 
laid on the table subject to call. 

On motion, section 5th was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 5. The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof, shall have power ..to 
issue writs of habeas corpus, at the in¬ 
stance of all persons in actual custody un¬ 
der civil process. 

On motion section 6th was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 6. The appellate jurisdiction of the 
supreme court shall extend to all cases in 
which the constitutionality or legality of 
any tax, toll, or impost of any kind or na¬ 
ture soever shall be in contestation, what¬ 
ever may be the amount thereof; and, like¬ 
wise, to all fines, forfeitures and penalties 
imposed by municipal corporations. 

On motion section 7th was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 7. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases, on 
questions of law alone, in all cases in 
which the punishment of death or hard la¬ 
bor may be inflicted, or a fine exceeding 
three hundred dollars is actually imposed. 

On motion of Mr. Winchester the vote 
adopting the 5th section was reconsidered. 
Mr. Brent then moved to amend said 


section by adding, after the last word, the 
words, “in all cases in which they may 
have appellate jurisdiction,” and striking 
o.ut the word “civil.” 

Mr. Saunders moved to lay said section 
5th on the table indefinitely, which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved that the 
same be laid on the table subject to call, 
which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Roselius moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, 
a. m., which motion was lost. 

On motion section 9th was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 9. The judges, by virtue of their 
office, shall be conservators of the peace 
throughout the State. The style of all pro¬ 
cess shall be, “The State of Louisiana.” 

All prosecutions shall be carried on in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, and conclude, against the 
peace and dignity of the same. 

On motion, the 10th section was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 10 . The judges of all courts shall, 
in all cases, give in writing, their reasons 
on which their judgment is founded. 

Mr. Benjamin offered as a substitute 
for the said section, the 12th section of the 
constitution of 1812, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 12, of 1812. The judges of all 
courts within this State shall, as often as 
it may be possible so to do, in every de¬ 
finitive judgment, refer to the particular 
law in virtue of which such judgment may 
have been rendered, and in all cases ad¬ 
duce the reasons on which their judgment 
is founded. 

On motion, section eleven was taken up. 

Sec. 11. No court, or judge of any court, 
appointed under this constitution, shall ex¬ 
ercise any jurisdiction, or perform any func¬ 
tions, but such as are purely judicial; and 
no other duties or functions shall ever be 
attached, by law, to the office of a judge, 
but such as are judicial. 

Mr. Beatty moved to lay said section 
on the table subject to call. 

Mr. Saunders moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 10 o’clock, 
a. m.; the motion was lost, the vote being 
equal, the President voted in the negative. 

Mr. Beatty then renewed his motion 
to lay the said section on the table, sub¬ 
ject to call, and the same was carried. 




190 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Oil motion, section twelve was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 12. No court, or judge of any court, 
shall ever have the power, by any order 
or judgment, in any suit, process, or other 
proceeding before them, or pending in 
such court, to order or adjudge any money 
to be paid by the parties to such suits or 
proceedings, or make any allowance out 
of any money or property that may be in 
actual custody of said court or officers 
thereof, except for the payment of the legal 
fees of the ministerial officers of the said 
court, as allowed and established by law. 

On motion of Mr. Saunders, said sec- 
tion was laid on the table, subject to call. 

On motion section thirteen was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 13. The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be sufficient 
ground for impeachment, the Governor 
shall remove any of them on the address 
of three-fourths of each house of the gene¬ 
ral assembly. 

Mr. Read moved to amend said section, 
by striking out the following words: “ But 
for any reasonable cause, which shall not 
be sufficient cause for impeachment, the 
Governor shall remove any of them, on the 
address of three-fourths of each house of the 
general assembly,” and insert in lieu there¬ 
of the following words of the- section 

of the constitution of 1812. “ But for any 

reasonable cause, which shall not be suffi¬ 
cient cause for impeachment, the Governor 
shall remove any of them, on the address 
of three-fourths of each house of the gene¬ 
ral assembly; provided, however, that the 
cause or causes for which such removal 
may be required, shall be stated at length 
in the address, and inserted on the journal 
of each house.” 

On motion, said section was adopted as 
amended, viz: 

Sec. 13. The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be sufficient 
cause for impeachment, the governor shall 
remove any of them, on the address of three- 
fourths of each house of the general assem¬ 
bly; provided, however, that the cause or 
causes for which such removal may be re¬ 
quired, shall be stated at length in their 
address, and inserted on the journal of each 
house. 


On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at ten o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent at the call ol 
the roll, Messrs. Aubert , King, Penn, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Voorhies, absent on leave; Mr. Porche, 
absent on account of illness; Messrs. Ben¬ 
jamin, Briant , Cade, Carriere, Chinn , 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Ken¬ 
ner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Porter, Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Soule , 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth, 
and Wikoff did not answer at the call of 
the roll. 


Wednesday, April 16, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re. 
quest of the president, opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Mr. Cade. 

On motion of Mr. Ledoux, the vote 
adopting the 13th section of the majority 
report of the committee on the judiciary, 
adopted on yesterday, was reconsidered. 

On motion of Mr. Ledoux, said section 
was called up, viz: 

Sec. 13. “ The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any 
reasonable cause which shall not be suffi¬ 
cient ground for impeachment, the govern¬ 
or shall remove any of them, on the address 
of three-fourths of each house of the gener¬ 
al assembly; provided, however* that the 
cause or causes, for which such removal 
may be required, shall be stated at length 
in the address, and inserted on the journal 
of each house. ” 

Mr. Ledoux moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by inserting after the words “three- 
fourths,” the words “of the members pres¬ 
ent.” 

And the yeas and nays being called for 
on the adoption of the amendment, 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, Ledoux, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, St, Amand, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste- 







191 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana . 


phens, Taylor of Assumption, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—33 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Conrad of Orleans, 
Culbertson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Legendre, Lewis, Mazure.au, 
Porter, Ratliff, Read, Sellers, Wikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative— 
17 nays ; consequently said motion was 
carried, and the amendment adopted. 

On motion, the 13th section as amended 
was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 13. “ The judges of all courts 
shall be liable to impeachment; but for any 
reasonable cause which shall'not be suffi¬ 
cient ground for impeachment, the govern¬ 
or shall remove any of them, on the address 
of three-fourths of the members present of 
each house of the general assembly; provi¬ 
ded , however, that the cause or causes 
for which such removal may be required, 
shall be stated at length in the address 
and inserted on the journal of each house.” 

Agreeably to notice given yesterday, Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption, moved to recon¬ 
sider the vote adopting the rule fixing the 
evening sessions; and the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Briant, Brumfield, Cenas, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Eustis, Garcia, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallop,Porter,Ratliff, St. Amand, 
Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—16 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazueau, O’¬ 
Bryan, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Read, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the ne¬ 
gative—36 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

On motion, the first section of the ma¬ 
jority report of the committee on the judi¬ 
ciary, and laid on the table subject to call, 
was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 1. “ The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
to be established throughout the State; in 
justices of the peace; and in such other 
courts in the city of New Orleans as the 



The question under discussion was the 
motion of Mr. Ratliff to amend said section 
by striking out the words “in the city of 
New Orleans.” 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned till this 
evening at 5 o’clock, p. m. 

Note —Members absent; Messrs. Au- 
bert, Cade, Derbes, King, Penn, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Voorhies absent on leave ; Mr. Porche 
absent on account of illness; and Messrs. 
Benjamin, Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culberstson, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, 
Grymes, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Preston, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Sellers, Soule, Trist, Winchester and 
Winder did not answer to their names at 
the call of the roll. 


Wednesday Evening, April 16, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 
on Friday next, move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the rule requiring a larger vote 
on a motion to reconsider, than voted at 
the adoption of the motion it is intended to 
reconsider. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section 1st of the majority report on the 
judiciary. 

Sec. 1 . The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
to be established throughout the State, in 
justices of the peace, and such other courts 
in the city of New Orleans as the legisla¬ 
ture may from time to time direct. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Ratliff 
to amend said section by striking out the 
words “in the city of New Orleans.” 

After some discussion on the above 
amendment, Mr. Porter moved for a call of 
the house, and fifty-three members an¬ 
swered to their names; and the following 
members were absent at the call, viz: 

Messrs. Aubert,Cade,Derbes,King,Penn, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, and Voorhies , absent on leave. Air. 
Porche, absent on account of sickness; and 
Messrs. Garcia, Grymes, Hudspeth, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis,Roman,St. Amand, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester 
did not answer at the call of the house. 

Mr. Chinn then moved that the Con* 






192 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


vention adjourn till to-morrow at 10 oclock, 
a. m.; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, Burton, 
Carriere, Chinn, Covillion, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, Marigny, Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, Saunders, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddiil and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—22 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeal, Brent, Brumfield, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Marigny, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Read, Scott ot Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Wederstrandt and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the negative—32 nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was lost. 

And pending the discussion on the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. Ratliff to strike out, the Con¬ 
vention adjourned till to-morrow at 10 
o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —-Members absent at the call of 
the roll, Messrs. Aubert, Cade, Derbes, 
King, Penn, Scott of Baton Rouge, Taylor 
of St. Landry, and Voorhies, absent on 
leave. Mr. Porche, absent on account of 
sickness, and Messrs. Carriere, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Downs, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Porter, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Trist, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Winchester did not answer at 
the call of the roll. 


Thursday, April 17, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the president, opened the proceedings 
with prayer. 

Mr. Dunn gave notice that he would on 
to-morrow, move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the rule requiring the secretary to 
furnish the printers with the names of the 
members absent at call of the roll, or when 
a call of the house is made, to publish in 
the morning and evening papers. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the reports of the debates of the 
12th instant. 

This being the day fixed for the taking 


into consideration the reports of the com¬ 
mittee of revision, the report of said com¬ 
mittee on the executive department being 
first in order, was submitted. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
said report was laid on the table, subject 
to call. 

Mr. Dunn gave notice that he would on 
a future day, introduce a section providing 
that the lieutenant-governor shall be super¬ 
intendent of education. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

First section of the majority report on the 
judiciary. 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts, 
in justices of the peace, and such other 
courts in the city of New Orleans, as the 
legislature^jnay from time to time direct. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Ratliff 
to strike out the words “in the city of New 
Orleans.” 

Mr. O’Bryan moved that the debate on 
the subject under consideration, cease this 
evening at 7 o’clock, p. m. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till 5 o’clock, p. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Au¬ 
bert, Cade, Derbes, Penn, Taylor ot’ St* 
Landry and Voorhies absent on leave; 
Messrs. Porche and Trist absent on ac¬ 
count of sickness; and Messrs. Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, 
Guion, Labauve, Marigny, Ratliff, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Splane,Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff and Winchester did not an¬ 
swer to their names at the call of the roll. 


Thursday Evening, April 17,1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Soule submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

j Resolved, that during the continuance of 
morning and evening sittings, the repor¬ 
ters be required to furnish only the out¬ 
lines of the debates. 

Mr. Roselius moved to amend the above 
resolution as follows, viz: “ that hereafter 
the report of the debates of the evening 
sittings be dispensed with. 

Mr. Downs offered the following substi- 
stitute, viz: 

i Resolved , that an additional reporter in 

English be appointed. 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 193 


Mr. Claiborne moved to amend said 
substitute by adding “also, an additional 
reporter in French.” 

Mr. Mazureau moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow morning at 10 
o’clock a. m. The yeas and nays being- 
called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin , Boudousquie, Bri¬ 
ant, Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Kenner, Lewis, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mazureau, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Soule, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Waddill, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—28 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Btirton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Dunn, Bustis, Guion, Prescott, of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Mad¬ 
ison, Sellers, Splane, / Vederstrandl, Wi- 
kojf and Winder voted in the negative— 
30 nays; consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved the previous ques¬ 
tion, the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Cartiere, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, 
CoviUion, Downs, Dunn, Bustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Lcdoux, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Pugh, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers., Soule, Splane, 
Wadsworth, Wikojf and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative—35 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie , Bourg, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Claiborne, Hudspeth . 
li ing, Lewis, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, 
Wederslrandt and Winchester voted in the 
negative—23 nays; consequently the mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. McRae submitted the following as 
a substitute for the whole, viz : 

Resolved, That the secretary be directed 
to appoint additional reporters in English 
and French; which substitute was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved for the adoption 
of the amendment offered by him to the 
substitute of Mr. Downs, providing for an 
additional French reporter; which motion 
was lost. 


Mr. Downs moved for the adoption of the 
substitute offered by him to Mr. Soule’s 
resolution, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, Chant- 
bliss, Chinn, Downs,Dunn,Garrett, Humble, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Porter, Prescott 
ot Avoyelles, Read, Scott ot Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Wadsworth and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

Messrs, Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Bustis, Guion, Hudspeth, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner, King, Ledoux, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, Mazureau, Peets, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh , Roselius, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Stephens , Taylor of St. 
Landry, Waddill, Wederslrandt, Wikojf' 
and Winchester voted in the negative:—39 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Soule moved for the adoption of the 
resolution offered by him; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg , Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Car¬ 
riere, Cenas, Chambliss , Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion , Culbertson , 
Downs, Dunn, Bustis , Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Lcdoux, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo , 
Mazureau, Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, 
Pugh, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Waddill, Wbdsworih, Winchester 
and Winder voted in thd affirmative-^9 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Burton , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Lewis, McRae, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhom¬ 
me, Ratliff, Read, Roselius, St. Amand , 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstandt and 
Wikojf voted in the negative—22 nays ; 
consequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis gave notice that he would on 
to-morrow introduce a resolution to abolish 
the office of reporter. 

Air. Marigny moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, 
a. m.; the yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson , Bustis , Guion , 
Hudspeth, Kenner , Lewis , McCallop , Me 


25 




194 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Rae, Marigny, Mazureau, Peels , Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff', Roselius, 
St, Amand, Saunders, of Baton 

Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landr y,Waddill, 
Wadsworth and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—34 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux , Mayo, O'Bryan, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhom¬ 
me, Pugh, Read, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Splane, Wederstrandt,. Wikoff 
and Winder voted in the negative—29 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried, and the Convention adjourned till to¬ 
morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Au- 
bert, Cade, Derbes, Penn and Voorhies, 
absent on leave; Messrs. Porche andTrist 
absent on account of illness, and Messrs. 
Benjamin, Boudousquie, llrumfield, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Garcia, Grymes, 
Hudspeth, Labauve, Legendre, Marigny, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Wadsworth, Wikoff and 
Winchester did not answer to their names 
at the call of the roll. 


Friday, April 18, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the president, opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

Mr. Humble submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

Resolved, that from and after Monday, 
the 21st inst., the Convention shall meet 
at 9 o’clock in the morning, and adjourn at 
ten minutes before 3 o’clock in the even¬ 
ing. 

Mr. Humble moved for a dispensation 
of the rules; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend the resolu¬ 
tion by striking out the words “ and ad¬ 
journ at ten minutes before 3 o’clock in the 
evening,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
following amendment, viz: ‘‘and that hence¬ 
forward the evening sittings be discontinu¬ 
ed.” 

Mr. Sellers moved that the resolution 


and amendment be laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans, moved 
for a division, that is, to take the vote first 
on meeting at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Mr. Brent moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Lewis moved for the adoption of his 
amendment, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Culbertson, Downs, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth , Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, MeCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—40 yeas; and 
Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Ccirriere, Chambliss , Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Dunn, Kenner, King, O'Bryan, 
Peets, Prudhomme, Pugh, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Scott of Madison, Sellers and Wads¬ 
worth voted in the negative—19 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was carried, and the 
amendment adopted. 

Mr. Humble moved for the adoption of 
the resolution as amended, viz: 

Resolved, that from and after Monday, 
the 21st inst. the Convention shall meet at 
nine o’clock in the morning, and that hence¬ 
forward the evening sessions be discon¬ 
tinued. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas , Chinn, 
Claiborne, Culbertson, Downs, Garrett , 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau , 
Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—45 yeas; and 
Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Chambliss, Conrad of New Orleans, Covil¬ 
lion, Dunn, King, O'Bryan, Pugh, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers and 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


195 


Wadsworth voted in the negative—15 
nays ; consequently the motion was carri¬ 
ed and the rule adopted. 

This being the day fixed to reconsider 
the vote adopting the rule requiring a great¬ 
er number of members to vote for the re¬ 
consideration than voted in favor of the 
motion which it proposed to reconsider, 

On the motion of Mr. Marigny the same 
was taken up, and the yeas and nays being 
called for on the motion to reconsider, re¬ 
sulted as follows: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Carriere, Claiborne, 
Covillion, Humble, Ledoux, McRae , Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Peels, Porche, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Ratliff, Read, Soule, 
Waddill, Wadsworth and Wedersirandt 
voted in the affirmative—19 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, W'ikoff, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—43 nays; consequently 
the motion was lost. 

Mr. Soule gave notice that at o’clock 
m. he will move to reconsider the vote fix¬ 
ing the senatorial apportionment of New 

Orlpfm c 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section first of the majority report on 
the judiciary: 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district 
courts to be established throughout the 
State, in justices of the peace, and such 
other courts in the city of New Orleans, 
as the legislature may from time to time 
direct. 

The question under consideration at the 
last adjournment was the motion of Mr. 
Ratliff to strike out the words “in the city 
of New Orleans.” 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
said motion to strike out: 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, 
Guion, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, Mar- 
igny, Porter, Pugh, Ratlff, St. Amand, 


Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor ol Assumption, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—24 yeas; and 
Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, Lewis, Me Cal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo,O'Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Weder¬ 
sirandt and Wikoff voted in the negative 
37 nays; consequently the motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Porter offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz: 

The judicial power shall be vested in a 
supreme court, in district courts and in 
justices of the peace. The legislature 
shall have the power toestablish probate 
courts throughout the State, the judges 
thereof to be elected by the qualified 
voters of the different parishes—and 
the legislature shall establish such other 
courts in the city of New Orleans, as 
from time to time may be deemed neces¬ 
sary.' - 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment of Mr. Porter by striking out the 
words “the judges thereof to be elected 
by the qualified voters of*the different pa¬ 
rishes;” and the yeas and nays being call¬ 
ed for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Prud¬ 
homme, Pugh, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, JVadsworth, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—30 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss , Covillon, Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett , Humble, Hynson, Ledoux , 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Porche, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St Landry, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the 
negative—32 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was los.t. 




19G 


Journal of the Convention of /Louisiana. 


Mr. Porter then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of his amendment; the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

M essrs. Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion , 
Culbertson, Dunn , McCallop, Porter,Pugh, 
Ratliff, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Taylor ot As¬ 
sumption, Waddill and Winder voted in 
the affirmative-—10 yeas; and 

Messrs. Realty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Com 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, .Mazureau, (TBry¬ 
an, Peels, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, 
Roselius, St. Amand , Scott of Madison, 
Setters, Splane,Taylor of St Landry, Wads: 
worth, Wedcrstrandt, Wikoff and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the negative—-49 nays ; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Saunders moved to amend said 
section by inserting after the words “dis¬ 
trict courts” the words “parish courts with 
probate j urisd iction. ’ ’ 

And the yeas and nays being calledVfor, 
Messrs. Beatty, Briant, Chinn, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, 
King, Legendre, McCallop, Marigny, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Saunders, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirmative; 
20 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Brent, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Downs, 
Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Labauve, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, 
Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche-, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
ofSt. Landry, Prudhomme; Read, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff voted in the negative—10 nays; 
consequently said amendment was lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend, by inserting after the words “dis¬ 
trict courts,” the words “courts of probate.” 
And the yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, 
Garcia, Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, 


Ledoux, Legendre, McCallop, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Porter/ Pugh, Ratliff’ Scott of 
Feliciana, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Read, Roselius, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad¬ 
dill. Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and Wi¬ 
koff voted in the negative—35 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Waddill moved for a division, that 
is, each paragraph of said section be adopt¬ 
ed separate!}". 

The question of order being raised, 

The President decided the motion to 
be out of order. 

Mr. Culbertson appealed from the deci¬ 
sion of the chair, which appeal was rejec¬ 
ted, and the decision sustained. 

On motion ta adopt the section, the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss*‘Claiborne,’Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, 
Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Ro¬ 
selius, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—51 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Chinn, Covil¬ 
lion, Dunn, Garcia, Porter, Pugh, Ratliffj 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption and Waddill voted in 
the negative—14 nays; consequently said 
motion was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Soule, the senatorial 
apportionment of the city of New Orleans 
was taken up, and the yeas and nays being 
called for on the motion to reconsider 
said apportionment, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 197 


Downs, Garcia, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, 
Waddill, Wedertrandt and Wikoff voted 
in the affirmative—32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Genas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the negative—34 nays: 
consequently the motion was lost. 

On motion, the 2d section was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed five hundred dol¬ 
lars. 

Mr. Ratliff moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out “five hundred dollars” 
and inserting “three hundred” in lieu 
thereof. 

Mr. Scott of Feliciana, moved for the 
previous question. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Chinn, Downs, Eustis, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, McCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule and Win¬ 
chester voted in the affirmative—*24yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Burton, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Covillion, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, 
Grymes, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Mayo, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Ro¬ 
selius, St. Amand, Saunders, Splane, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—30 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment by striking out all the words after 
^jurisdiction,” viz: “ shall extend to all 


cases where the matter in dispute shall ex¬ 
ceed five hundred dollars,” with a view of 
incorporating the principle contained in 
the 4tli section of the minority report. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the section 
and amendments were laid on the table, 
subject to call. 

On motion, the 3d section was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum; each of said judges 
shall receive a salary of thousand dol¬ 
lars annually. The said court shall ap¬ 
point its own clerks. The said judges 
shall be appointed by the governor, by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
for the term of ten years. 

Mr. Dunn moved to amend said section 
by striking out the word “ three, ” and in¬ 
sert in lieu thereof the word “ four. ” 

Mr. Porter moved for a division, that 
is, the Convention first proceed to strike 
out;, the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Briant, Chinn, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Garcia, 
Ledoux, Marigny, Porter, Ratliff, Scott of 
Feliciana and Wadsworth voted in the 
affirmative—12 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, 
Garrett,Guion, Hudspeth, Humble,Hynson, 
Kenner, King, Legendre, Le*wis, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott ot Baton Rouge, 
Sellers, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—43 nays; consequently the 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Read moved to strike out the words 
“each of said judges shall receive a salary 
of — thousand dollars annually;” the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brent, Burton, Carriere, Hyn- 
son, McCallop, McRae, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana and Waddill voted in the affirmative 
—14 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Chambliss, 




198 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Kenner, King, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, Saunders, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—41 nays ; consequently the motion 
was lost. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow, at 10 o’clock, a. m. 

Note.— Members absent, Messrs. Au- 
bert , Cade , Derbes , Penn and Voorhies, 
absent on leave; Messrs. Porche and Trist, 
absent on account of sickness; and Ben¬ 
jamin, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Eustis , Garcia , 
Grymes, Hudspeth , Labauve, Preston, 
Ratliff, Roman , Roselius , St. Amand, Saun- 
ders, Wadsworth and Winchester did not 
answer to their names at the call of the 
roll. 


Saturday, April 19, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the Gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the president, opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of 
the printers for the report of the debates of 
the 14 th instant. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, submitted a re¬ 
port in relation to the funeral expenses of 
the lamented Hon. Gilbert Leonard— 
and the same was unanimously adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Marigny, the project 
of Mr. Chinn concerning duelling, and to 
be incorporated in the general provisions, 
was referred to a committee of five mem¬ 
bers. 

The President appointed Messrs. Ma¬ 
rigny, St, Amand, Porche, Downs and 
Garcia members of said committee. 

Mr. Waddill submitted the following 
resolution, to be made the order of the day 
for Tuesday next, viz: 

No mamber of this Convention shall be 
eligible to any office created by this con¬ 
stitution, until the expiration of two years 
after its adoption; the office of governor 
excepted. 


On motion, leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Scott of Madison, and Winder. 
ORDER THE OF DAY. 

Section third of the majority report on 
the judiciary. 

Sec. 3 . The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and three as¬ 
sociate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum; each of said judges 
shall receive a salary of thousand 

dollars annually. The said court shall 
appoint its own clerks. The said judges 
shall be appointed by the governor, by 
and with the advice and consent of the 
senate, for the term of ten years. 

Mr. Dunn moved to fill the blank with 
the words “five thousand.” 

Mr. Ledoux moved to fill the blank with 
the words “seven thousand.” 

On motion of Mr. Saundrs, the para¬ 
graph in relation to the salary of the judges 
was laid on the table, subject to call. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the word “ten” and in¬ 
sert “eight” in lieu thereof. 

Mr. Stlane moved for a division, that 
is, first proceed to strike out the word 
“ten,” and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covil¬ 
lion, Downs, Humble, Ledoux, McRae, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott ot Avoyelles, Piescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Stephens, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted 
in the affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Saunders 
and Splane voted in the negative—22 nays; 
consequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Splane moved to fill the blank with 
the word “twelve;” and the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or. 
leans, Eustis, Grymes, Guion,'King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Splane, Taylor of St. Landry and Wads¬ 
worth voted in the affirmative—18 yeas ; 
and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 






199 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Huds¬ 
peth, Humbl,e Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porche, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Stephens, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt voted in the negative—34 nays; con- 
sequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to fill the blank with 
the word “eight;” and the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale,’Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Covil¬ 
lion, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Grymes, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Peets, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Soule, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted 
in the affirmative—47 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Conrad of Orleans, 
Humble, Legendre, O’Bryan, Splane and 
Stephens voted in the negative—7 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried. 

On motion the paragraph in relation to 
the salary of the judges and laid on the ta¬ 
ble subject to call, was taken up. 

Mr. Ledoux moved to fill the blank in 
said paragraph with the word “seven.” 

Mr. Waddill moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion as follows, viz: The chief justice shall 

receive a salary of-thousand dollars 

annually; and each of the associate judges 
shall receive a salary of-thousand dol¬ 

lars annually; which amendment was ad¬ 
opted. 

Mr. Ledoux then moved to fill the first 
blank with the word “ seven.” The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Roselius, Soule, Splane, Taylor\> f St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted in 
the affirmative—22 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Claiborne , 
Covillion , Downs , Dunn, Garrett, Hud¬ 
speth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, 


Mayo, O'Bryan, Peets, Porche, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan- 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Waddill and 
Wikoff voted in the negative—35 nays? 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Marigny then moved to fill the 
blank with the word “six.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to fill 
the blank with “ six thousand five hun¬ 
dred.” 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, submitted the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz : 

Resolved, that the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorized to issue a war¬ 
rant in favor of Besaneon, Ferguson & Co- 
editors of the Jeffersonian, for two hundred 
and fifty dollars on account of printing done 
and to be done for the Convention. 

On motion the Convention adjourned till 
Monday, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Au - 
bert. Cade, Derbes, Penn, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Voorhies, and Winder absent on leave; 
Porche and Trist, absent on account of ill¬ 
ness; Benjamin, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Gui¬ 
on, Kenner, McCallop, Preston, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption and Winchester did not 
answer to their names at the call of tho 
roll. 


Monday, April 21, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the president, opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
15th inst. 

On motion, Mr. Downs was excused 
from serving on the committee, to whom, 
was referred the notice of Mr. Chinn on 
duelling—and the president appointed Mr. 
Lewis in his place. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section third of the report of the ma¬ 
jority on the judiciary. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice, and of three 









2o0 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


associate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum; the chief justice shall 
receive a salary of thousand dollars 

annually; the associate judges shall receive 
each a salary of thousand dollars 

annually. The said court shall appoint its 
own clerks. The said judges shall be 
appointed by the governor, by and with 
the advice and consent of the senate, for 
the term of eight years. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, to fill the first blank with 
six thousand five hundred dollars; the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Culbertson, Downs , Eus- 
tis, Onion, King , Labauve , Ledonx , Le¬ 
gendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Roman, Ro- 
selius, Si. Amand, Soule, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St.,Landry, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Winchester voted in the af¬ 
firmative^—23 yeas; snd 

Messrs, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Bri- 
ant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere , Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett , 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Beets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers 3 Stephens and Waddiil voted in the 
negative—32 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Marigny then moved to fill the 
blank with six thousand dollars; the yeas 
and nays being called for, (Mr. Labauve in 
the chair,) 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Carriere, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett^ Guion, King, Labauve, Le- 
. doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau* Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Wederstrandt and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Dunn, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Stephens and Waddiil voted in the nega¬ 


tive—27 nays; consequently the motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Dunn moved to fill the second 
blank with six thousand dollars; the yeas 
and nays being called, (Mr. Labauve in the 
chair,) 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Guion, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, 
Tayior of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—24 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield," Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Covillion, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption and Waddiil 
voted in the negative—32 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Claibokne moved to fill the blank 
with five thousand five hundred dollars; 
the yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. 
Labauve in the chair,} 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Briant, Car¬ 
riere, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Culbertson, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett, Guion, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—29 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brefrt, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St.- Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Seilers, 
Stephens and Waddiil voted in the nega¬ 
tive—27 nays;- consequently the motion' 
was adopted. 

Mr. Bkent gave notice that he will on a 
future day, move to reconsider the above 
vote, allotting- the salary of the chief jus¬ 
tice and associate judges of the supreme 
court. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana , £01 


on a future day, move to reconsider the 
vote rejecting the allotting seven thousand 
dollars to the chief justice. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words, “the said 
judges shall be appointed by the governor, 
by and with the advice and consent of the 
senate,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
words, “shall be elected by the qualified 
electors of the State.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to lay 
the amendment on the table subject to call. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
(Mr. Labauve in the chair), 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Briant, Carriere, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Culbertson, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazurcau, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of: 
St. Landry and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative —36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Humble, Ilynson, McRae, 
Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—20 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Peets offered the folllowing amend- 
ment, viz: . 

“ The said judges shall be elected by 
joint ballot of both houses of the general 
assembly.” 

Mr. Preston offered the following 
amendment to be inserted after the words, 
“the said court shall appoint its own clerks,” 
viz: 

“ Provided , They be not related by 
blood or marriage to either of the judges.” 

Mr. Eustis moved to lay Mr. Preston’s 
amendment on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
(Mr. Labauve in the chair), 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Covillion, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Ma- 
zureau, O'Bryan, Prescott ot St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
26 


Saunders, Scott of Feliciana,Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—-40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Culbertson, Humble, 
Hynson, Mayo; Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Taylor of Assumpton and Waddill 
voted in the negative^—13 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Brent, the 3d section, 
together with the amendment of Mr. Peets, 
were laid on the table subject to call. 

Mr. Soule submitted an additional .sec¬ 
tion, which was laid on the table subject 
to call, and ordered to be printed. 

Mr. Beatty submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, viz: 

Sec. 4. “ When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for eight years; 
one of the associate judges for six years; 

: one for four years; and one for two years; 
and that on the event of the death, resigna¬ 
tion or removal of any of said judges before 
the expiration of the period for which he 
was appointed, his successor shall only be 
appointed for the remainder of his term, so 
that the term of service of no two of said 
judges shall expire at the same time.” 

Mr. Beatty moved for the adoption of 
said section; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, xMcRae, 
Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt and Wikoff voted in the affirmitive 
—45 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Briant, Conrad of Orleans, Ma¬ 
rigny, Porter, Prudhomme, Roman, Rose¬ 
lius, St. Amand and Winchester voted in 
the negative—9 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the section adopted. 

On motion, the fourth section was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 4. “The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in the city of New Orleans,. 










202 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


from the month of November to the month 
of June, inclusive. The legislature shall 
have the power to fix the sessions else¬ 
where during the rest of the year. Until 
otherwise provided, the sessions shall be 
held in New Orleans.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “in New Or¬ 
leans,” and insert in lieu thereof the words 
“as heretofore ” 

Mr. Eustis moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion; the yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brent, Briant, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion , Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, O’Bryan, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. Amafnd, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—43 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Hynson, Lewis, Me , 
Rae, Peels, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Read and Waddill voted in the 
negative—10 nays ; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Preston submitted the following 
substitute, viz: 

“ That the State shall be divided into 
four distrtets. That a judge of the supreme 
court shall be appointed for and reside in 
each district. The judge of each district 
shall, twice a year, hold court in every 
parish of the district, and try upon the ori¬ 
ginal record, all appeals brought before 
him from the inferior courts. 

If he concurs with the inferior court, the 
judgment shall be final. If he does not 
concur in opinion with the inferior court, 
the case ‘ shall be immediately transferred 
to a session of all the judges of the supreme 
court, which shall be holden in the city of 
New Orleans, the first week in January of 
each year, and shall be continued until all 
the appeals brought before the court shall 
be disposed of.” 

Mr. Porter moved that the Convention 
adjourn till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

On a question of order, the President 
decided the motion to adjourn, in order. 

Mr. Beatty appealed from the decision 


of the chair, and called for the yeas and 
nays, which resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Lebauve, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peels, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Preston, 
Read, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Wikoff voted in the affirmative—43 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Guion, King , Legendre, Roman, Sellers 
and Winchester voted in the negative—8 
nays; consequently the decision of the chair 
was sustained. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Au- 
bert, Cade, Derbes, Penn, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Voorhies and Winder absent on leave; 
Messrs. Porche and Trist absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; Mr. Cenas excused for 
non-attendance on account of death in his 
family; Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Carriere, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, 
Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Wadsworth,Wikoff, Winchester 
and Winder did not answer to their names 
at the first call of the roll. 

Note. —Members absent at the second 
call: Messrs. Aubert, Cade, Derbes, Penn, 
Scott of Madison, Voorhies and Winder, 
absent on leave; Messrs. Porche and Trist 
absent on account of illness; Mr. Cenas 
excused for non-attendance on account of 
death in his family; Messrs. Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Carriere, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, McCallop, Ma¬ 
rigny, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Taylor of Assumption,Wadsworth 
and Wikoff did not answer to their names 
at the second call of the roll. 




203 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Tuesday, April 22, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the president, opened the proceed¬ 
ings with prayer. 

Mr. Humble gave notice that he would 
on Tuesday next, move to reconsider the 
resolution depriving the members of the 
Convention of their mileage. 

Mr. Humble gave notice that he would 
when the general provisions are taken up, 
move to reconsider the vote removing the 
seat of government from the city of New 
Orleans, for the purpose of locating it 
permanently. 

The resolution offered by Mr. Waddill, 
on the 19th inst., being made the special 
order of the day for to-day, was called up, 
viz : 

“ No member of this Convention shall be 
eligible to any office created by this con¬ 
stitution, until the expiration of two years 
after its adoption; the office of governor 
excepted.” 

Mr. Waddill moved to amend said re¬ 
solution by striking out the words “ the 
office of governor excepted,” and insert in 
lieu thereof the following amendment, viz : 
“ except to such offices as may be filled 
by elections by the people.” 

Mr. Sellers moved that the amendment 
and resolution be laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely, and the yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, Peets, Prudhomme, Roman, St. 
Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the affir¬ 
mative—32 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Covil- 
lion, Garrett, Hynson, McRae, O’Bryan, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge and Waddill voted in the negative— 
15 nays ; consequently the motion was 
carried. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section fourth of the majority report on 
the judiciary. 


Sec. 4. “ The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in the city of New Orleans, 
from the month of November to the month 
of June inclusive. The legislature shall 
have power to fix the sessions elsewhere 
during the rest of the year; until otherwise 
provided, the sessions shall be held in New 
Orleans.” 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Lewis 
to strike out the words “in New Orleans,” 
and insert in lieu thereof the words “ as 
heretofore.” The yeas and nays being 
called for on the adoption of said amend¬ 
ment, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Labauve, Lewis, 
McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and Wi- 
kiff voted in the affirmative—-28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Brumfield, Carriere, Downs, Eus- 
tis, Garrett, Guion, Legendre, Mazureau, 
Preston, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Sellers, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill, Wadsworth and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the negative—23 nays; consequent¬ 
ly the motion was carried, and the amend¬ 
ment adopted. 

Mr. Splane gave notice that he would 
on Thursday next, at 1 o’clock, move to 
reconsider the above vote. 

Mr. Mayo moved for the adoption of the 
following amendment, to be inserted at the 
end of the section, viz : 

“Appeals from the parishes of Jackson, 
Union, Morehouse, Caldwell, Ouachita, 
Catahoula, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, 
Tensas and Concordia shall, until other¬ 
wise provided, be returnable to New Or¬ 
leans;” and the same was adopted. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by striking out the word “ June,” and in¬ 
sert in lieu thereof the word “July;” which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
section by inserting after the words “in 
tho city of New Orleans from the,” in the 
second line, the words “first Monday of,” 
and the third line after the words “to the,” 
to insert the words “end of the;” which 
amendments were adopted. 



204 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana , 


Mr. Preston moved for the adoption of 
the substitute offered by him, viz : 

“That the State shall be divided into four 
districts. That a judge of the supreme 
court shall be appointed and reside ill each 
district. The judge of each district shall, 
twice a year, hold court in every parish of 
the district, and try upon the original re¬ 
cord, all appeals brought before him from 
the inferior courts. 

If he concur with the inferior court, 
the judgment shall be final. If he do not 
concur in opinion with the inferior court, 
the case shall be immediately transferred 
to a session of all the judges of the supreme 
court, which shall be holden in the city of 
New Orleans the first week in January of 
each year, and shall be continued until all 
the appeals brought before the court shall 
be disposed of.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, on 
the adoption of the above substitute, 

Messrs. Chambliss, Downs, Humble, 
McRae, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers and 
Waddill voted in the affirmative—12 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, 
Genas, Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett,« 
Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the negative—37 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out in the fifth line the 
words “ during the rest of the year.” 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
said amendment, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Chambliss, Covillion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Taylor of St. Landry and 
Waddill voted in the affirmative—22 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Benja¬ 
min, Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, King, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Mazureau, Pres¬ 


cott of St. Landry, Roman,’ St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the negative—29 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 4 . The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in the city of New Orleans from 
the first Monday of the month of Novem¬ 
ber to the end of the month of June, inclu¬ 
sive. The legislature shall have the pow¬ 
er to fix the sessions elsewhere during the 
rest of the year. Until otherwise provi¬ 
ded, the sessions shall be held as here¬ 
tofore. 

Appeals from the parishes of Jackson, 
Morehouse, Caldwell, Catahoula, Frank¬ 
lin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas and Concor¬ 
dia shall, until otherwise provided, be re¬ 
turnable to New Orleans. 

On motion, the 3d section was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars annually; and the associate justices 
shall receive each a salary of five thousand 
five hundred dollars annually. The said 
court shall appoint its own clerks. The 
said judges shall be appointed by the go¬ 
vernor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate, for the term of eight years. 

Mr. Brent submitted the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz: 

“ The State shall be divided by the legis¬ 
lature into four districts, numbering them. 
A judge shall be voted for in each district, 
by the qualified electors thereof. 

“The chief justice shall be elected by 
the first district.” 

The yeas and nays being ealled for on 
the adoption of the amendment of Mr. 
Brent, 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Co¬ 
villion, Chambliss. Humble, Hynson, Me- 
Gallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, Trist 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—20 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bri¬ 
ant, Bourg, Brazeale, Carriere, Cenas, 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 205 


Chinn, Claiborne, Culbertson, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Prud- 
liomme, Roman, Saunders, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Sellers, Splane, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—40 nays; consequently said amend¬ 
ment was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Peets, the following 
amendment, offered by him, was laid on 
the table, subject to call, viz: 

“ The said judges shall be elected by 
joint ballot of both houses of the general 
assembly.” 

On the motion to adopt the 3d section 
as amended, viz: 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and three as¬ 
sociate justices, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars annually; and the associate justices 
shall receive each a salary of five thousand 
five hundred dollars annually. The said 
court shall appoint its own clerks. The 
said judges shall be appointed by the 
governor, by and with the advice and 
consent of the senate. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Benja¬ 
min, Briant, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Ma- 
zurea, Prudhomme, Roman, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the affirmative—35 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Dunn, Humble, Hynson, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Sellers, Stephens, Trist and Waddill voted 
in the negative—23 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried, and the section 
was adopted. 

On motion, the 5th section was taken up 
and adopted, viz: 

Sec. 5. “ The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof, shall hrve power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus at the instance 


ot persons in actual custody under process, 
in all cases in which they may have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction.” 

On motion, the 8th section was taken 
up and adopted, viz: 

Sec. 8 . In all cases in which the 
judges shall be equally divided in opinion, 
the judgment appealed from shall stand 
affirmed; in which case each of the judges 
shall give his separate opinion in writing.” 

On motion, the 11th section was taken 
up and adopted, viz: 

Sec. 11 . “ No court, or judge of any 
court, appointed under this constitution, 
shall exercise any jurisdiction or perform 
any functions but such as are purely judi¬ 
cial; and no other duties or functions shall 
ever be attached by law to the office of a 
judge, but suah as are judicial.” 

On motion of Mr. Kenner, the vote 
adopting said section, was reconsidered. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, submitted the 
following as a substitute for said section, 
viz: 

“ No judge in this State shall hold any 
other office, or exercise the functions of 
any other office, than that of judge; or re¬ 
ceive any fees or compensation other than 
his salary, for any duties that may be as¬ 
signed to him by law.” 

Mr. Guion offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz: 

“ The legislature shall not have power 
to assign any duties to the judges of the su¬ 
preme or district courts of this State, ex¬ 
cept those that are purely judicial.” 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the substitute 
of Mr. Guion was laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Downs then offered the following 
amendment, viz: 

“ No court, or any judge of any court, 
appointed under this constitution, shall 
perform any functions not properly apper¬ 
taining to the duties of judge.” 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said amendment, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brent, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Dunn, 
Downs, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, King, 
Labauve, McCallop, Mayo, O’Bryan, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Roman, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana and Taylor 
of Assumption voted in the affirmative— 
23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 




206 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ant, Brumfield, Burton, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Eustis, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Marig- 
ny, Mazureau, Peets, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Wikoff voted in the negative—32 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, then moved the 
adoption of the substitute offerred by him; 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by striking out the word “ party; ” which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend said section by adding after the 
word “jurisdiction,” in the third line, the 
words “or receive any fees of office.” 

Pending the discussion on said motion, 
the Convention adjourned till to-morrow at 
9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent, Messrs. Cade, 
Derbes, Penn, Scott of Madison, Voorhies 
and Winder absent on leave; Messrs. Por- 
ehe and Trist absent on account of illness; 
Mr. Cenas excused for non-attendance on 
account of death in his family; Messrs. 
Benjamin, Boudousquie, Carriere, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son,Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Mc- 
Callop, Marigny, Mazureau, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme,Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Soule, 
Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, Wikoff and 
Winchester did not answer to their names 
at the first call of the house. 

Note. —Members absent at the second 
call, Messrs. Cade, Derbes, Penn, Scott of 
Madison, Voorhies and Winder absent on 
leave; Messrs. Porche and Trist absent on 
account of sickness; Messrs. Benjamin; 
Boudousquie, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Ken¬ 
ner, McCallop, Marigny, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roman, Roselius and Winchester did not 
answer to their names at the second call of 
the house. 


Wednesday, April 23, 1845. 
The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. High opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 


The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
16th inst. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Mr. Downs. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will, 
when the general provisions will be under 
consideration, introduce a section, provid¬ 
ing, that the legislature shall have power 
to extend the rights and privilege of citizens 
of the State, to such descendants of persons 
of color bom in this State, as the public 
interest may require, 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section eleventh of the majority report, 
as amended, viz: 

Sec. 11 . No court, or judge of any court, 
appointed under this constitution, shall ex¬ 
ercise anyjurisdiction, or perform any func¬ 
tions, but such as are judicial; and no 
other duties or functions shall ever be at¬ 
tached by law, to the office of a judge, but 
such as are judicial. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr.Taylor 
of Assumption, to amend by adding after 
the word “judicial,” in the fourth line, the 
words “or receive any fees of office.” 

On motion, said amendment was 
adopted. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section, 
by inserting after the word “functions,” in 
the third line, the words “ arise directly 
from the exercise of judicial functions.” 

The Chair (Mr. Taylor of Assumption 
in the chair) decided the amendment to be 
out of order. 

Mr. Mayo appealed from the decision of 
the chair. 

On the question being put, the decision 
was sustained. 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 

Sec. 11 . No court, or judge of any court, 
appointed under this constitution, shall ex¬ 
ercise any jurisdiction, or perform any func¬ 
tions but such as are judicial, or receive 
any fees of office; and no other duties or 
functions shall ever be attached by law to 
the office of a judge, but such as are ju¬ 
dicial. 

The yeas any nays being called for on 
the adoption of said section, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, Eustis, 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 207 


Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Soule Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Wcd- 
erstrandt, WikofF and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Guion, Labauve, Marig- 
ny, Mayo, Roman, Trist and Waddill vo¬ 
ted the negative—8 nays ; consequently 
said motion was carried, and the section 
was adopted. 

On motion, the twelfth section was 
taken up, viz: 

Sec. 12 . No court, or judge of any court, 
shall ever have the power, by any order or 
judgment, in any suit, process or other pro¬ 
ceeding before them, or pending in such 
court, to order or adjudge any money to be 
paid by the parties to such suits or pro¬ 
ceedings, or make any allowance out of 
any money or property that may be in ac¬ 
tual custody of said court or officers there¬ 
of, except for the payment of the legal fees 
of the ministerial officers of the said court, 
as allowed and established by law.” 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following as 
a substitute for said section, viz : 

“ No court, or judge of any court, shall 
ever have the power to order the payment 
or allowance of any fee or compensation, 
to any attorney, curator ad hoc , or other 
similar officer, appointed to represent any 
minor, absent heir, creditor or other party 
interested in any cause or proceeding, be¬ 
fore such court or judge.” 

Mr. Guion moved to amend said substi¬ 
tute by inserting after the word “compen¬ 
sation,” the words “except such as are 
allowed by law.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to lay the section, 
the substitute and amendment on the table 
indefinitely. The yeas and nays being 
called for, (Mr. Taylor of Assumption in 
the chair,) 

Messrs. Beatty, Briant, Carriere, Chinn, 
Labauve, Soule and Trist voted in the af- 
fimative—7 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Legendre, Lewis, 


McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu- 
rcau, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott oi St. Landry, Preston, Prudhom- 
me, Read, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt, WikofF and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the negative—50 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost. 

With leave of the house, Mr. Benjamin 
withdrew the substitute offered by him. 

Mr. Lewis then offered the following 
substitute, viz: 

“No court, or judge, shall make any al¬ 
lowance by way of fee or compensation in 
any suit or proceeding, except for the pay¬ 
ment of such fees, to ministerial officers, 
as may be established by law.” 

Mr. Lewis moved the adoption of said 
substitute. 

Mr. C Iiiinn moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion ; which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to 
amend said substitute, by striking out the 
words “to ministerial officers.” The yeas 
and nays being called for, (Mr. Taylor of 
Assumption in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Carriere, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, 
Garrett, Guion, King, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Porter, Scott of Feliciana, Splane and 
Trist voted in the affirmative—15 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Co¬ 
villion, Chinn, Eustis, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Wed¬ 
erstrandt, WikofF and Winchester voted in 
the negative—39 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Dunn offered the following amend¬ 
ment, to be inserted after the word “com¬ 
pensation,” viz: 

“Unless such compensation be allowed 
by a judgment rendered contradictorily 
with the parties interested.” 

Mr. Dunn moved for the adoption of 
said amendment; which motion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved- for the adoption of 
the substitute; the yeas and nays being 




203 


Journal of the Cojiveniion of Louisiana. 


called for, (Mr. Taylor of Assumption, in 
the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Eustis, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner. Legendre, 
Lewis, McCall op, McRae, Marigny, Peets, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, St. 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill, Wederstrandt, WikofF and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—-36 
veas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Downs, Garrett, Guion, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Porter, Roman, Saunders,Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Splane, Trist and Wadsworth voted 
in the negative—19 nays ; consequently 
said motion was carried, and the substitute 
adopted. 

On motion, the fourteenth section was 
taken up, viz : t 

Sec. 14. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many other 
prosecuting attorneys for the State as may 
be hereafter found necessary. The said 
attorneys shall be appointed by the gover¬ 
nor, with the advice and approbation of the 
senate. Their duties shall be determined 
by law. 

Mr. McRae moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words, “the said attor¬ 
neys shall be appointed by the governor, by 
and with the advice and approbation of the 
senate,” and insert in lieu thereof the fol- 
following amendment, viz: 

“ The attorney general shall be elected 
by the qualified electors of the State at 
large, and the prosecuting attorneys, by the 
qualified electors of the several districts.” 

Mr. Read moved for a division, that is, 
the Convention first proceed to strike out 
the words “the said attorneys shall be ap¬ 
pointed” &c. which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion to strike out: 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Humble , Hyn¬ 
son, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Stephens , Trist, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative-^23 
yeas; and 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Gui¬ 
on, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Jjeicis, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Priidhotnme, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wmlsworlh, Wikojf and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—31 nays ; ✓ 
consequently the motion was lost. 

On motion, the said 14th section was 
adopted. 

On motion, the 15th section was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 15. The State shall be divided into 
the following judicial districts, in each of 
which one judge, k arned in the law, shall 
be appointed. Said districts shall remain 
unchanged until the first day of January, 
eighteen hundred and fifty-one: 

The first district shall be composed of 
the parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and Orleans, 

Second district, of the parishes of St. 
Charles and Jefferson. 

Third district, of the parishes of As¬ 
cension, St. James and St. John the Bap¬ 
tiste. 

Fourth district, of Assumption, La¬ 
fourche Interior and Terrebonne. 

Fifth district, of Iberville, West Baton 
Rouge and Point Coupee. 

Sixth district, of East Feliciana and 
West Feliciana. 

Seventh district, of St. Helena, Wash¬ 
ington and St. Tammany. 

Eighth district, of East Baton Rouge 
and Livingston. 

Ninth district, of Natchitoches and Clai¬ 
borne. 

Tenth district, of Caddo, De Soto and 
Bossier. 

Eleventh district, of Rapides and Avoy¬ 
elles. 

Twelfth district, of Sabine and Calcasieu. 

Thirteenth district, of St. Landry and 
Lafayette. 

Fourteenth district, of St. Mary, St. 
Martin and Vermillion. 

Fifteenth district, of Union, Morehouse 
and Ouachita. 

Sixteenth district, of Caldwell, Franklin 
and Catahoula. 

Seventeenth district, of Carroll and Mad¬ 
ison. 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 209 


Eighteenth district, of Tensas and Con- 
cordia. 

Mr. Porter moved to amend the first 
paragraph of said section by striking out 
the word “appointed” and insert in lieu 
thereof, the Words “elected by joint ballot 
of both houses of the general assembly.” 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent., Burton, Brum¬ 
field, Carriere, Chambliss, Cotillon, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, Beets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhommc, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, 
'Prist, Waddill and IVederstrandt voted 
in the affirmative-*—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Conrad of New Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Guion, 
Hudspeth,Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Feliciana, Seller's, Splanc, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wadsworth and Wikoff voted in the nega¬ 
tive—30 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend said 
paragraph by striking out the words “said 
districts shall remain unchanged until the 
first day of January, eighteen hundred and 
fifty-one,” and insert in lieu thereof the 
words “said districts may be changed by 
the legislature”—which motion was lost. 

Mr. Beatty then offered the following 
as a substitute for the whole section, viz: 

The first legislature assembled under 
this constitution, shall divide the State 
into not less than fifteen judicial districts, 
nor more than twenty.four, which shall re- 
main unchanged for six years thereafter, 
and be subject to reorganization once in 
every six years only—for each of which 
district, one judge learned in the law shall 
be appointed. • 

Mr. Beatty moved the adoption of the 
above substitute. 

Mr. Soule moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend said 
substitute by striking out the word “ten” 
and insert the word “six” in lieu thereof, 
which motion prevailed. 

On the motion of Mr. Beatty lor the 
adoption of the substitute, the yeas and 
27 


nays being called for, resulted as fol¬ 
lows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Briant. Burton, Carriere, Claiborne, Con - 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, McC al¬ 
lop, Preston, Prudhommc, Read, Saunders 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott, of Feliciana,* 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Waddill, 
Wadsworth and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—26 yeas; and 

Messrs, Aubert, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, Eustis,Guion, 
Humble, Labaitve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lew- 
is, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
O'Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St Landry, Roman, Ro- 
selius, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, Ste-~ 
pliens, Taylor of St.Landry, Wedcrstrandl 
and Wikoff voted in the negative—32 
nays; consequently said motion was lost.. 

Mr. Porter then moved to amend said 
first paragraph as follows, viz: 

The State shall be divided into ten judi¬ 
cial districts. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said amendment: 

Messrs. Brumfield, Kenner, McCallop, 
Porter, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption and" 
Trist voted in the affirmative—? yeas;* 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg,- 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Cotillion, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Labauve , Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Ma¬ 
zureau, O'Bryan, Peets, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Read, Roman, Rosclius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Soule, Splane, Taylor 
of St; Landry, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wed- 
erstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester voted 
in the negative—51 nays; consequently 
said amendment was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved the adoption of the 
first paragraph as reported, viz: 

Sec. 15. The State shall be divided into 
the following judicial districts, in each of 
which one judge learned in the law, shall 
be appointed; said districts shall remain 
unchanged until the first day of January, 
eighteen hundred and fifty.one. 






210 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said paragraph: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Dunn, Eustis, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, La- 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder- 
strandt, Wikoff and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—44 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Burton, Carriere, Gar¬ 
rett, Kenner , King, O'Bryan, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Read, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, and Trist 
voted in the negative—15 nays; conse¬ 
quently said paragraph was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis then moved the adoption of 
the remainder of said section. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved for 
a division, that is, to adopt the remainder 
of said section by districts—which motion 
prevailed. 

The first district was then taken up, 
viz: 

The first district shall be composed of 
the parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and Orleans. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to amend said 
district by striking out the word “Or¬ 
leans” and insert in lieu thereof, the words 
‘•that part of the parish of Orleans on the 
right bank of the river.” 

Mr. Guion moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the previous question; the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Claiborne, Conrad Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hynson, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Wadsworth and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—35 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Dunn, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, King, 
Labauve , Me C'allop, O'Bryan, Prescott of 


Avoyelles, Read, Scott of Feliciana, 
Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted in the neg¬ 
ative—23 nays; consequently said motion 
was carried. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the amendment, and called for the 
yeas and nays (Mr.Claiborne in the chair:) 

Messrs. Briant, Conrad of Orleans, 
Dunn , Kenner, Legendre, Marigny, Scott 
of Feliciana, Soule, Stephens, Wadsworth 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative 
— 11 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton , Carriere, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Eustis, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Lewis, McCaXlop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Mazureau, O'Bryan, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Read, Roman , Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Waddill, Wikoff and 
Winchester voted in the negative—45 
nays; consequently said amendment was 
lost. 

On motion, said first district was adopt¬ 
ed as reported, viz: 

The first district shall be composed of 
the parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard 
and Orleans. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at nine o’clock, a. m. 

N ote —Members absent—Messrs.Cade, 
Derbes, Downs, Penn, Scott of Madison, 
Yoorhies and Winder absent on leave; 
Messrs. Porche and Trist absent on ac¬ 
count of sickness; Messrs. Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Eustis,Garcia,Grymes, 
Guion, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff and Winchester did not an¬ 
swer to their names at the first call of the 
house. 

Note —Members absent at the second 
call of the house—Messrs. Benjamin, 
Boudousquie, Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Ledoux, 
Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St Amand, 






211 


Jour nal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth and 
Winchester. 


Thursday, April 24, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the President, opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Garrett gave notice that he will, 
during the day, move to reconsider the 
vote adopting the eleventh section. 

On motion of Mr. Humble, the vote 
adopting the fourteenth section, was recon¬ 
sidered. 

Mr. Humble then moved to amend said 
section by adding after the word “senate,” 
in the fifth line, the words “for the term of 
two years. ” Which amendment was 
adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

There shall^ be an attorney general for 
the State, and as many other prosecuting 
attorneys for the State as may hereafter be 
found necessary. 

The said attorneys shall be appointed 
by the governor, with the advice and ap¬ 
probation of the senate, for the term of 
two years. 

Their duties shall be determined by 
law. 

This being he day fixed for the taking 
in consideration the reports of the commit¬ 
tee of revision, on motion, the report of said 
committee, on the executive department, 
was taken up, viz: 

ARTICLE THIRD. 

The first section, as reported, was adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Sfcc. 1. “The supreme executive power 
of this State shall be vested in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the govern¬ 
or of the State of Louisiana. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four 
years, and together with the lieutenant 
governor, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows. 

The second section was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 2. The citizens entitled to vote 
for representatives, shall vote for a govern¬ 
or and lieutenant governor, at the same 
time and place of voting for representatives; 
the returns of every election shall be sealed 
up and transmitted by the proper returning 


officer created by law, to the secretary of 
State, who shall deliver them to the speak¬ 
er ot the house of representatives, on the 
second day ot the session of the general 
assembly then next to be holden. The 
members of the general assembly shall 
meet in the house of representatives, to ex¬ 
amine and count the votes. The person 
having the greatest number of votes for 
governor, shall be declared duly elected; 
but if two or more persons shall be equal 
and highest in the number of votes polled 
for governor, one of them shall be imme¬ 
diately chosen governor by joint vote of 
the members of the general assembly. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for lieutenant governor, shall be 
lieutenant governor; but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in the 
number of votes polled for lieutenant 
governor, one of them shall be immediately 
chosen lieutenant governor by the joint 
vote of the members of the general assem¬ 
bly. 

The committee recommend the follow, 
ing correction, viz: 

Strike out, in the seventh line, the words 
“ created by law;” and the same was 
adopted. 

The section, as corrected, was adopted, 
viz: 

Sec. 2. The citizens entitled to vote 
for representatives, shall vote for a gover¬ 
nor and lieutenant governor, at the same 
time and place of voting for representatives; 
the returns of every election shall be seal¬ 
ed up and transmitted by the proper re¬ 
turning officer to the secretary of State, 
who shall deliver them to the speaker of 
the house of representatives, on the second 
day of the sessions of the general assembly 
then next to b eholden; the members of the 
general assembly shall meet in the house of 
representatives to examine and count the 
votes; the person having the greatest number 
of votes forgovernor, shall be declared duly 
elected, but if two or more persons shall be 
equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled forgovernor, one of them shall be 
immediately chosen governor by joint vote 
of the members of the general assem¬ 
bly. The person having the greatest num¬ 
ber of votes for lieutenant governor, shall 
be lieutenant governor; but if two or more 
persons shall be equal and highest in the 
number of votes polled for lieutenant go- 






2 12 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


vernor, one of them shall be immediately 
chosen lieutenant governor by the joint 
vote of the members of the general assem¬ 
bly- 

The third section was taken up and pas¬ 
sed without corrections, viz: 

Sec. 3. No person shall be eligible 
to the office of governor or lieutenant go¬ 
vernor, who shall not have attained the age 
of thirty-five years, and has not been fifteen 
years a free white male citizen of the 
United States, and of this State next pre¬ 
ceding his election. 

The fourth section was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 4. The governor shall enter in 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 
Monday of the January next ensuing his 
election, and shall continue in office until 
the Monday next succeeding the day that 
his successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and his successor shall have taken 
the oath or affirmation prescribed by this 
constitution. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, the words 
‘*his successor,” in the seventh line, was 
struck out; and the section, as corrected, 
was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 4. The governor shall enter in 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 
Monday of the January next ensuing his 
election, and shall continue in office until 
the Monday next succeeding the day that 
his successor shall have been declared 
duly elected, and shall have taken the oath 
or affirmation prescribed by this constitu¬ 
tion. 

The fifth section was taken up and adop¬ 
ted, viz: 

Sec. 5. The governor shall be ineligi¬ 
ble for the succeeding four years after the 
expiration of the time for which he shall 
have been elected. 

Section sixth was taken up and adopted, 
viz: 

Sec. 6 . No member of Congress or 
persons holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious society 
shall be eligible to the office of governor or 
lieutenant governor. 

Section seventh was taken up and adop¬ 
ted, viz: 

Sec. 7. In case of the impeachment of 
the governor, his removal from office, 
death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the State,the power 
and duties of the office shall devolve upon 


the lieutenant governor for the residue of 
the term, or until the governor absent or 
impeached, shall return or be acquitted. 
The legislature may provide by law for the 
case of removal, impeachment, death, re¬ 
signation, disability, or refusal to qualify, of 
both the governor and lieutenant governor, 
declaring what officer shall act as gover¬ 
nor; and such officer shall act accordingly, 
until the disability be removed, or for the 
residue of the term. 

Section eighth was taken up and adop¬ 
ted, viz: 

Sec. 8. The lieutenant governor, or 
other officer discharging the duties of gov¬ 
ernor, shall, during his administration, re¬ 
ceive the same compensation to which the 
governor would have been entitled, had he 
continued in office. 

The nineth section was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 9. The lieutenant governor shall, 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate, the sena¬ 
tors shall elect one oftheir own members as 
president of the senate for the time being. 

The tenth section was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 10. While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
atlowed to the speaker of the house of re¬ 
presentatives, and no more. 

The eleventh section was taken up and 
adopted, viz : 

Sec. 11 . The governor shall have power 
to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall, with the consent of the senate, 
have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In 
cases of treason he may grant reprieves, 
until the end of the next session of the 
general assembly, in which the power of 
pardoning shall be vested. 

The twelfth section was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 12. The governor shall, at stated 
times, receive for his services a compensa¬ 
tion, which shall neither be increased nor 
diminished during the term for which he 
shall have been elected. 




213 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The thirteenth section was taken up 
and adopted, viz : 

Sec. 13. He shall be commander in 
chief of the army and navy of this State 
and ot the militia thereof, except when they 
shall be called into the service of the 
United States. 

The fourteenth section was taken up 
and adopted, viz: 

Sec. 14. He shall nominate and appoint, 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
all officers whose offices are established 
by this constitution, and whose appoint¬ 
ments are not herein otherwise provided 
for: Provided , however, that the legisla¬ 
ture shall have a right to prescribe the 
mode of appointment to all other offices 
to be established by law. 

The fifteenth section was taken up and 
adopted, viz : 

Sec. 15. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill up vacancies that may happen 
during the recess of the senate, by grant¬ 
ing commissions which shall expire at the 
end of the next session, unless otherwise 
provided for in this constitution. 

The committee of revision recommend 
the following correction, viz: to strike out 
from the second line the word “up,” which 
correction was adopted, and the section as 
corrected, was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 15. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of 
the next session, unless otherwise pro¬ 
vided for in this constitution. 

The sixteenth section was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 16. He may require information in 
writing from the officers in the executive 
department, upon any subject relating to 
the duties of their respective offices. 

The seventeenth section was taken up, 
and adopted, viz: 

Sec. 17. He shall, from time to time, 
give to the general assembly information 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 

The eighteenth section was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 18. He may, on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions, convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place, if that should have become danger¬ 


ous from an enemy or from contagious dis¬ 
orders; and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween the two houses with respect to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such a time as he may think proper, not 
exceeding four months. 

Mr. Read moved to correct said section, 
by striking out in the seventh line the 
words “with respect.” and insert the word 
“as,” which correction was adopted, and 
the section as corrected, was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 18. He may, on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions,convene the general assembly at the 
seat of government, or at a different place 
if that should have become dangerous from 
an enemy or from contagious disorders; 
and in case of disagreement between the 
two houses as to the time of adjournment, 
he may adjourn them to such time as he 
may think proper, not exceeding four 
months. 

The nineteenth section was taken up 
and adopted, viz : 

Sec. 19. He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

The twentieth section was taken up, 
viz : 

Sec. 20 . Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve he shall sign 
it, if not, he shall return it with his objec¬ 
tions, to the house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections 
at large upon their journal, and proceed to 
reconsider it; if, after such reconsidera¬ 
tion, two-thirds of all the members elected 
to that house shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved bv two- 
thirds of all the members elected to that 
house, it shall be a law; but in such cases 
the vote of both houses shall be determined 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
members voting for and against the bill, 
shall be entered on the journal of each 
house respectively. If any bill shall not 
be returned by the governor within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been sent to him, it shall be a law in like 
manner as if he had signed it, unless the 
general assembly, by their adjournment, 
prevent its return; in which case it shall 
be a law, unless sent back within three 
days after their next meeting. 

Mr.-moved to correct said sec- 





214 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


lion by striking out in the fifth and sixth 
lines the words “shall have,” which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

Mr. Benjanin moved to strike out in 
the sixth line the word “ who” and insert 
in lieu thereof the word “which,” and in 
the seventh line to strike out the word 
“ their” and insert the word “its,” which 
motion prevailed, and the section as cor¬ 
rected was adopted, viz : 

Sec. 20. Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve he shall sign 
it, if not he shall return it with his objec¬ 
tions, to the house in which it originated, 
which shall enter the objections at large 
upon its journal, and proceed to reconsider 
it; if, after such reconsideration, two-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house 
shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, 
with the objections, to the other house, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two-thirds j)f all the 
members elected to that house, it shall be 
a law; but in such cases the vote of both 
houses shall be determined by yeas and 
nays, and the names of the members voting 
for and against the bill, shall be entered on 
the journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the gov¬ 
ernor within ten days (Sundays excepted) 
after it shall have been sent to himjit shall 

'•a 

be a law in like manner as if he had signed 
it, unless the general assembly, by ad¬ 
journment prevent its return; in which case 
it shall be a law, unless sent back within 
three days after their next meeting. 

Section twenty-first was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 21 . Every order, resolution or vote 
to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary, except on a question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the gov¬ 
ernor, and before it shall take effect be ap¬ 
proved by him, or being disapproved, shall 
be repassed by two thirds of both houses. 

The twenty-second section was taken 
up, viz : 

Sec. 22 . A secretary of state shall be 
nominated and appointed by the Governor, 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
and commissioned to hold his office during 
the term for which the governor shall have 
been elected. The records of the State 
shall be kept and preserved in the office of 
the secretary. He shall keep a fair regis¬ 


ter of the official acts and proceedings of 
the governor, and, when necessary, shall 
attest them. He shall, when required, lay 
the said register and all papers, minutes 
and vouchers relative to his office, before 
either house of the general assembly, and 
shall perform such other duties as may be 
enjoined on him by law. 

The committee of revision recommend 
the correction of the first paragraph of said 
section as follows, viz : 

“ There shall be a secretary of state, who 
shall hold his office during the time for 
which the governor shall have been elect¬ 
ed,” which correction was adopted, and 
the section as corrected was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 22. There shall be a secretary of 
state, who shall hold his office during the 
time for which the governor shall have been 
elected. The records of the State shall be 
kept and preserved in the office of the secre¬ 
tary. He shall keep a fair register of the offi¬ 
cial acts and proceedings of the governor, 
and when necessary, shall attest them. He 
shall, when required, lay the said register 
and all papers, minutes and vouchers relative 
to his office, before either house of the gen- 
ral assembly, and shall perform such other 
duties as may be enjoined on him by law. 

Section twenty-third was taken up and 
adopted, viz. 

Sec. 23. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the 
State of Louisiana, and shall be sealed 
with the State seal and signed by the gov¬ 
ernor. 

Section twenty-fourth was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 24. The militia of this State shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most ^expedient by the 
legislature. 

Section twenty-fifth was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 25. The free white men of the 
State shall be armed and disciplined for 
its defence; but those who belong to reli¬ 
gious societies whose tenets forbid them to 
carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, 
but shall pay an equivalent for personal 
services. 

Article 4th —Judiciary Department. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo the 21st sec¬ 
tion was reconsidered, viz: 

Sec. 21. Every order, resolution, or 
vote, to which the concurrence of both 



215 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


houses may be necessary, except on a 
question of adjournment, shall be present¬ 
ed to the governor, and before it shall take 
effect be approved by him, or being dis¬ 
approved, shall be repassed by two-thirds 
of both houses. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “of” in the 8th 
line the words “the members elected of”; 
which motion prevailed, and the section as 
amended, was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 21. Every order, resolution, or 
vote, to which the concurrence of both 
houses may be necessary, except on a 
question of adjournment, shall be present- 
ed to the governor, and before it shall take 
effect be approved by him, or being dis¬ 
approved, shall be repassed by two-thirds 
of the members elected, of both houses. 

On motion of Mr. Peets, the vote re¬ 
jecting the substitute offered by Mr. Beat¬ 
ty, was reconsidered, and the substitute ta¬ 
ken up, viz: 

The first legislature assembled under 
this constitution shall divide the State into 
not less than fifteen judicial districts, nor 
more than twenty-four, which shall remain 
unchanged for six years thereafter, and be 
subject to reorganization once in every six 
years only; for each of which districts one 
judge learned in the law shall be appoint¬ 
ed. 

Mr. Ratliff moved to strike out the 
word “fifteen” and insert “twelve;” the 
yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin,Chinn, Eustis, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Me Gal¬ 
lop, McRae, Maijo, Peets, Porter, Pres - 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Roman, St, 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Waddill and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Covillion, Dunn , Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lew¬ 
is, Marigny, O'Bryan, Pugh , Sellers,Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and Wi¬ 
koff voted in the negative—24 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Ratliff, the blank 
was filled with the word “twelve.” 

Mr. Labauve moved to amend said sub¬ 


stitute by fixing the maximum of the dis¬ 
tricts at twenty; he therefore moved to 
strike out after the word twenty, the word 
four. The yeas and nays being called for, 
(Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Chinn, Eustis, Guion, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Me Gallop, Marigny, Peets, Porter, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, St. 
Amand , Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Waddill and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the affirmative—34 yeas ; and 
Messrs. Covillion, Dunn, Garrett, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, 
Mayo, O'Bryan, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, 
Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Weder- 
trandt and Wikoff voted in the negative— 
18 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried. 

Mr. O’Bryan moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by striking out the word “twenty;” 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved for the adoption of 
the substitute as amended, viz: 

The first legislature assembled under 
this constitution shall divide the State into 
judicial districts, which shall remain un¬ 
changed for six years, and be subject to 
reorganization every sixth year thereafter; 
The number of districts shall not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. For 
each district, one judge learned in the law 
shall be appointed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the above substitute, (Mr. 
Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri¬ 
ant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chambliss , Chinn, Covillion, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Me Gallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peels , 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—40 yeas: and 
Messrs. Brazeale, Dunn, Humble, O'¬ 
Bryan, Porter, Preston, Saunders and 
Waddill voted in the negative — 8 nays; 



°2L6 


Journal of the Convention oj Louisiana, 


consequently said motion was carried, and 
the substitute was adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, the sixteenth 
section was taken up, and laid on the table 
indefinitely, viz: 

Sec. 16. After the first of January 
eighteen hundred and fifty.one, the legisla¬ 
ture may reorganize the said districts; 
which shall remain unchanged for ten 
years thereafter, and be subject to reorgan¬ 
ization once in every ten years, provided 
the number of districts shall never be le§s 
than eighteen, nor more than twenty-four. 

On motion, the seventeenth section was 
taken up, viz: 

Sec. 17. Whenever a new parish shall 
be formed out of two or more parishes be- 
longing to different districts, the said new 
parish shall be attached to one of them. 

Mr. Chinn moved that the said section 
be laid on the table indefinitely; which 
motion was lost. 

On motion, the said seventeenth section 
was adopted. 

On motion, the eighteenth section was 
taken up, viz: 

Sec. 18. Each of said judges shall re¬ 
ceive a salary of not less than twenty-five 
hundred dollars annually. He must be a 
citizen of the United States, over the age 
of thirty years, and have resided in the 
State for six years next preceding his ap¬ 
pointment, and have practiced law therein 
for the space of five years. 

Mr. Ratliff moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out in the fourth line the 
word “thirty,” and insert in lieu thereof 
the word “ twenty-six,” which motion was 


lost. 

Mr. Read submitted the following as a 
substitute for the first paragraph, viz: 

“ The legislature shall provide an ade¬ 
quate compensation for each of said dis¬ 
trict judges, which shall not be increased 
or diminished during his term of office.” 

Mr. Garrett moved to lay the above 
substitute on the table indefinitely; the yeas 
and nays being called for, (Mr. Saunders 
in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri¬ 
an^ Brumfield , Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Homan , Roselius , St. Amaud , 


Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Wadsworth and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeclle , Burton, Chambliss, 
Comllion , Humble, Hynson, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, O'*Bryan, Beets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Ruge, Scott of Feliciana, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddill, Wedersirandt and Wi- 
koff voted in the negative —23 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Porter submitted the following 
amendment, to be inserted at the end of the 
section, viz: 

“ Except in such judicial districts as ihe 
major part of the parishes of which have 
been organized since the year 1840, and 
that the exception only extends to the first 
apportionment of judges.” 

On motion of Mr. Winchester said 
amendment was laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, offered the 
following as a substitute for the first para¬ 
graph of said section, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

“ Each of said judges shall receive a 
salary to be fixed by law, which shall not 
be increased or diminished during his term 
of office, which salary shall never be less 
than two thousand five hundred dollars an¬ 
nually. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 18 . Each of said judges shall re¬ 
ceive a salary to be fixed by law, which 
shall not be increased or diminished during 
his term of office, which salary shall never 
be less than twenty-five hundred dollars. 
He must be a citizen of the U nited States, 
over the age of thirty years, and have re¬ 
sided in the State for six years next pre¬ 
ceding his appointment, and have practised 
law therein for the space of five years. 

On motion the nineteenth section was 
taken up, viz: 

Sec. 19. The judges of said district 
courts, and of the courts to be established 
in the cities of New Orleans and Lafayette, 
shall hold their offices for the term of six 
years, and shall be appointed by the gov¬ 
ernor, by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate; provided, that when the first 
appointments, made under this constitution, 
are made, six of said district judges shall 



Journal oj the Convention oj' Louisiana • 


217 


be appointed for the term of two years, six 
for the term of four years, and six for the 
term of six years. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend by insert¬ 
ing four years instead of six years, in the 
third line. 

Mr. Kenner moved for a division, that 
is, strike out first the word “six,” which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following as 
a substitute for all the words coming in the 
seventh line to the end of the section, viz: 

“ The judges shall be divided by lot in¬ 
to three classes, as nearly equal as may 
be, and the term of office of the judges of 
the first class shall expire at the end of two 
years, of the second class at the end of 
four years, and of the third class at the end 
of six years.” 

Mr. Kenner moved for the previous 
question on tlm whole section, which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Brent, to strike out 
“six,” (Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss, Cotillion, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, McRae, Mayo, O'Bryan, 
Beets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Soule, Stephens , Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Waddill and Wikoff voted in the 
affirmative—27 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,' 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, 
Eustis , Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
McCallop, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Ro¬ 
selius , St. Amand, Saunders, Sellers, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wederslraudt, and lChi¬ 
chester voted in the negative—31 nays; 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend by striking 
out in the fourth line the word “gover¬ 
nor,” and insert in lieu thereof “ qualified 
electors of each district.” 

Mr. Brent moved to reconsider the 
vote adopting the previous question, The 
yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Eustis, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, Mayo, O’¬ 
Bryan, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy- 
28 


elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Rat- 
litl, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Trist, Waddill and Wed- 
erstrandt voted in the affirmative—27 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brazeale, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Ma. 
rigny, Mazureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St< 
Landry, Wikoff and Winchester voted in 
the negative—32 nays f consequently said 
motion was lost. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Brent to strike out the 
word “governor,” (Mr. Saunders in the 
chair,) 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car¬ 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Stephens, Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the affimative—23 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brazeale, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wikoff and Winchester voted 
in the negative—37 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost. 

On motion, Mr. Benjamin’s amendment 
was adopted, viz: 

On motion, the nineteenth section, as 
amended was adopted, viz : 

Sec. 19. The judges of said district 
courts, and of the courts to be established 
in the cities of Orleans and Lafayette, shall 
hold their offices for the term of six years, 
and shall be appointed by the governor by 
and with the advice and consent of the 
senate ; provided, that when the first ap¬ 
pointments made under this constitution, 
the judges shall be divided by lot into 
three classes, as nearly equal as may be, 
and the term of office of the judges of the 
first class shall expire at the end of two 
years, of the second class at the end of four 







2L8 


Journal qf the Convention of Louisiana* 


years, and of the third class at the end of 
six years. 

On motion of Mr. Soule, the additional 
section, submitted by him, was taken up, 
viz: 

The appointing power with respect to 
judges shall be exercised by the governor, 
in the manner following, to wit: He shall 
name and present three competent persons, 
learned in the law, and having practised at 
least live years in the courts of the State, 
for every office to be filled in the judiciary 
department; and the senate shall make 
their selection from the three persons thus 
named and presented, and shall vote viva 
voce and with open doors ; Provided , no 
appointment shall be effected unless it 
meets the concurrence of a majority of all 
the members composing the senate; and 
provided the judge at the expiration ot 
whose time shall give occasion to an ap¬ 
pointment, be one of the three first pre¬ 
sented by the governor to the choice of the 
senate. After three unsuccessful attempts 
to make a selection, it shall be the duty of 
the governor to name and present three 
other persons, and so on, until a choice be 
effected. 

Mr. Kenner moved to lay on the table, 
indefinitely the additional section of Mr. 
Soule. The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne,Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, O’Bryan, 
Peets, Preston, Prudhomme,Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of 
Feliciana, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Carriere, Covillion, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Ratliff, Sellers, Soule, Trist, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted 
in the negative—18 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent: Messrs. Cade, 
Derbes, Downs, Penn, Scott of Madison, 
Voorhies and Winder absent on leave; 
Mr. Porche on account of sickness; Messrs. 


Benjamin, Boudousquie, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad ot Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes,Guion, 
Hynson, King, Marigny, Mazureau, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, 
Wadsworth and Winchester did not answer 
to their names at the call ot the house. 


Friday, April'25, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, submitted the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved, that the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorised to issue a war¬ 
rant in the usual form for the sum ot forty- 
four dollars and twenty-nine cents in favor 
of James Carpenter, sergeant-at-arms, in 
remuneration for that sum expended by 
him for the use of the Convention. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin the vote 
adopting the substitute of Mr. Beatty was 
reconsidered, and the same taken up, viz: 

The first legislature assembled under this 
constitution shall divide the State into judi¬ 
cial districts,which shall remain unchanged 
for six years, and be subject to reorgani¬ 
zation every sixth year thereafter; the num¬ 
ber of districts shall not be less than twelve 
nor more than twenty. For each district 
one judge, learned in the law, shall be ap¬ 
pointed. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
substitute by adding at the end of the same 
the following amendment, viz: 

“ Except in the districts in which the 
cities of New Orleans and Lafayette are 
situated, the legislature may establish as 
many district courts as the public interest 
may require;” which amendment was 
adopted. 

On motion the substitute as amended 
was adopted, viz: 

The first legislature assembled under 
this constitution shall divide the State into 
judicial districts, which shall remain un¬ 
changed for six years, and be subject to 
reorganization every sixth year thereafter; 
the number of districts shall not be less 
than twelve nor more than twenty. For 
each district one judge, learned in the law, 







219 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


shall be appointed; except in the districts 
in which the cities of New Orleans and 
Lafayette are situated, the legislature may 
establish as many district courts as the pub¬ 
lic interest may require. 

On motion ofMrEusxis the vote adopt¬ 
ing the first section of article fourth was re¬ 
considered and the same taken up, viz: 

Sec. 1 . The judicial power shall be vest¬ 
ed in a supreme court, in district courts to 
be established throughout the State, in jus¬ 
tices of the peace, and such other courts 
in the cities of New Orleans and Lafayette 
as the legislature may from time to time 
direct. 

Mr. Eustis moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words “ and such 
other courts in the cities of New Orleans 
and Lafayette as the legislature may from 
time to time direct;” which amendment 
was adopted. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 1 . The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
to be established throughout the State, and 
in justices of the peace. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment was the following section 
submitted by Mr. Mayo, viz: 

The senate, in acting upon the nomina¬ 
tion of the judges made by the governor 
shall vote viva voce, with open doors, and 
tRe votes of at least seventeen senators 
shall be necessary to confirm a nomina¬ 
tion. 

To which section Mr. Taylor offered 
the following substitute, viz: 

A majority of all the members elected to 
the senate, shall be required for the confir¬ 
mation or rejection of officers appointed by 
the governor, with the advice and consent 
of the senate, and the senate in deciding 
thereon shall vote by yeas and nays, and 
the names of the senators voting for and 
against the appointments respectively shall 
be entered on a journal to be kept for that 
purpose, and made public at the end of 
each session, or before. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by striking out the words “and made 
public at the end of each session, or be¬ 
fore,” and insert the following words: 
“ and to be published at the discretion of 
the senate.” 


Mr. Beatty moved to lay the substi¬ 
tute and amendment on the table, subject 
to call. The yeas and nays being called 
for, (Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty,Benjamin,Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
McCallop, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman and 
Splane voted in the affirmative—19 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—37 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the amendment of Mr. Kenner to insert 
“at the discretion of the senate,” (Mr. 
Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bri¬ 
ant, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Eustis, Guion, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, McCallop, Marigny, Ma¬ 
zureau, Pugh, Roman, Trist, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative—- 
21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cenas, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, Dunn, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff) Read, St. Amand, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Waddill, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff voted in the negative—33 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved for 
the adoption of the substitute, and the 
yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, O’Bry¬ 
an, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, 





220 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of jSt ] 
Landry, Taylor of Assumption, Trist and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—40 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Briant, Bur¬ 
ton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Eustis, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Marigny, Mazureau, Wadsworth, 
Waddill, Wikoff and Winchester voted in 
the negative—18 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the substitute was 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the above 
substitute was referred to .the committee 
of revision, to be classed in the legisla¬ 
tive article. 

Mr. Claiborne submitted the following 
additional section, viz: 

On the expiration of the term of any 
judicial officer, whenever the governor 
shall not have nominated to the senate for 
the succeeding term, the incumbent in of¬ 
fice, any senator may nominate said incum¬ 
bent, and in such case the senate shall 
have power to select between the incum¬ 
bent in office and the person nominated by 
the governor, or to reject both. 

Air. Eustis submitted as a substitute 
for the above, the following, viz: 

On nominations for judicial officers, af¬ 
ter the first appointments under this con¬ 
stitution, if a majority of the members 
elected to the senate shall advise the re-ap¬ 
pointment of the incumbent, he shall be 
re-appointed. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
lay the substitute on the table indefinitely; 
the yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. 
Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, Ledoux, Legendre, McCallop, 
McRae, O’Bryan, Porter, Prescott of A- 
voyelles, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, 
Read, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Waddill and Wederstrandt 
voted in the affirmative—25 yeas; and 
Messrs, Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Bunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
King, Labauve, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana,- Taylor of 
St. Landry, Wikoff and Winchester voted 


in the negative—29 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by inserting after the word “sen¬ 
ate” the words “and house of representa¬ 
tives.” 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question, which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the amendment of Mr. 
Kenner, to insert the words “and house of 
representatives,” (Mr. Saunders in the 
chair,) 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Humble, Kenner, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, Porter, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Taylor of Assumption, Trist 
and Waddill voted in the affirmative—16 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert,- Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Co¬ 
villion, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Roman, St. 
Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Sou¬ 
le, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry,Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—41 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Kenner then offered the following 
amendment, viz: 

“It shall be competent for a majority of 
the members elected to the senate to re¬ 
elect the incumbent.” Which amendment 
was rejected. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the substitute of Air. Eustis, 
(Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cenas, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Wikoff and Winchester 
voted in the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Covillion, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Kenner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, 



221 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Waddill, Wadsworth and Wederstrandt 
voted in the negative—36 nays; conse¬ 
quently. said motion was lost. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the section of Mr. Clai¬ 
borne, (Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, King, Lewis, Marigny, Mazu- 
reau, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of 
Feliciana, Taylor of St. Landry, Wads¬ 
worth and Winchester voted in the affirm¬ 
ative —24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Carricre, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Hqmble, Hynson, 
Kenner, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Wikoff voted in the negative—32 nays; 
consequently the motion was lost. 

On motion, section twentieth was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 20 . The said district courts shall 
have general original jurisdiction in all civ¬ 
il cases when the amount in dispute ex¬ 
ceeds fifty dollars. In all criminal cases, 
and in all matters connected with succes¬ 
sions, their jurisdiction shall be unlimited. 

Mr, Benjamin moved to amend said 
section by inserting after the word “dollars” 
in the third line, the words “exclusive of 
interest;” and the same was adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 20. The said district courts shall 
have general original jurisdistion in all 
civil cases when the amount in dispute ex¬ 
ceeds fifty dollars exclusive of interest. In 
all -criminal cases, and in all matters con¬ 
nected with successions, their jurisdiction 
shall be unlimited. 

The twenty-first section was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 21. The legislature shall have 
power to vest in clerks of court authority 
to grant such orders and do such acts as 
may be deemed necessary for the further¬ 
ance of the administration of justice; and 
in all cases the powers thus granted shall 
be specified and determined. 

Mr, Ratliff moved to amend said sec¬ 


tion by striking out, in the third line, 
the words “and do such acts.” 

Mr. Kenner moved for the previous 
question; which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Ratliff' to strike out the 
words “and do such acts,” (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Carriere, Covillion, Porter, Rat¬ 
liff', Scott of Feliciana and Taylor of As¬ 
sumption voted in the affirmative—6 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Ma- 
zureau, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Sellers, Splane, Stephens Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the nega* 
tive—45 nays ; consequently said motion 
was lost. • 

On motion, said section was adopted. 

Mr. Garrett submitted the following 
additional section, viz: 

“The clerks of the district court shall be 
elected by the qualified electors in each 
parish, for the term of four years.” 

Mr. Mayo offered the following substi¬ 
tute, viz : 

“There shall be elected in each parish 
of the State, by the qualified electors there¬ 
of, at the time of the general election for 
members of the general assembly, a sher¬ 
iff, coroner, surveyor, and clerk of the dis¬ 
trict court, and a competent number of no¬ 
taries public, justices of the peace, and 
constables, who shall hold their offices for 
the term of two years, and until their suc¬ 
cessors are qualified.” 

On motion, the additional section and 
substitute were laid on the table, subject 
to call. 

Section twenty-second was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 22 . The clerks of the several 
courts shall be removable for breach of 
good behavior, by the judges thereof, sub¬ 
ject in all cases, to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

On motion, said section was laid on the 
table, subject to call. 





222 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Section twenty-third was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 23. The jurisdiction of the justices 
of the peace shall never exceed, in civil 
cases, the sum of fifty dollars. They shall 
be elected by the qualified voters of each 
parish, for the term of years. 

Mr. Garrett moved to fill up the blank 
in said section, with the word “two,” 
which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend said section 
by striking out in the second line, the word 
4 fifty,” and insert the words “ one hun¬ 
dred.” The yeas and nays being called 
for, (Mr. Saunders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale , Brent, Brum¬ 
field , Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Labauve, Me Call op, McRae, 
Mayo, Beets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhom- 
me, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Cenas, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Guion, Kenner, King, Legendre, 
Lewis, Mazureau , Pugh, Scott of Feliciana, 
Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wikoff and Winchester voted in the 
negative—19 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Labauve, said section 
was amended by inserting after the word 
“dollars,” in the third line, the words “ex¬ 
clusive of interest.” 

Mr. Ratliff moved to amend, by in¬ 
serting in the third line after the words 
“ exclusive of interest,” the following 
amendment, viz: 

“Subject to an appeal to the district 
court in all cases wherein the matter in 
dispute exceeds twenty-five dollars;” which 
amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Splane moved to amend by striking 
out the words, “they shall be elected by 
the qualified voters of each parish.” The 
yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. Saun¬ 
ders in the chair,) 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Eustis, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Marigny, Mazureau, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
15 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield , Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 


Covillion, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae , Mayo, Beets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott, of St.. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt and Wikoff voted in the negative— 
37 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz : 

Sec. 23. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed, in civil 
cases, the sum of one hundred dollars, ex¬ 
clusive of interest, subject to an appeal to 
the district court in all cases wherein the 
matter in dispute exceeds twenty-five dol¬ 
lars. They shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied voters of each parish for the term of 
two years. 

Section twenty-four was taken tip, viz : 

Sec. 24. The judges of the supreme 
court and district courts, provided for in 
this constitution, shall be appointed and 
commissioned as soon as possible after this 
constitution shall go into effect; and the 
legislature shall provide for the removal of 
all cases now pending in the supreme and 
other courts of the State under the present 
constitution, to the supreme and district 
courts, created by this constitution, and to 
the other courts that may be created by 
the legislature for the city of New Orleans. 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend by stri¬ 
king out the words “and to the other courts 
that may be created by the legislature for 
the city of New Orleans;” which motion 
prevailed. 

On motion, the section as amended, was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 24. The judges of the supreme 
court and district courts, provided for in 
this constitution, shall be appointed and 
commissioned as soon as possible after this 
constitution shall go into effect; and the 
legislature shall provide for the removal of 
all causes now pending in the supreme or 
other courts of the State under the present 
constitution, to the supreme and district 
courts, created by this constitution. 

On motion, the second section was taken 
up, viz; 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases 
1 hereinafter provided,which jurisdiction shall 



Journal of the Contention of Louisiana. 223 


extend to all cases where the matter in 
dispute shall exceed five hundred dollars. 

Air. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by inserting in the second line after the 
word “jurisdiction,*” the words “on ques¬ 
tions of law.” 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion the Convention adjourned till to-mor¬ 
row, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent, Messrs. Cade, 
Derbes,Downs, Penn, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Voorhies , and Winder 
absent on leave; Mr. Porche absent on ac¬ 
count of sickness; and Messrs. Boudous- 
quie, Brent, Briant, Carriere, Dunn, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Hynson, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, Ratliff,\ 
Roman, Roselius and Soule did not answer 
to their names at the first call of the house. 

Note —Members absent at second call 
of the house : Messrs. Benjamin , Boudons- 
quie, Carriere, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Bust is, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Prudhomme,Pugh, 
Ratliff', Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth 
and Winchester. 


Saturday, April 26, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Wiley opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

On motion leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Read, O’Bryan, Beatty, Huds¬ 
peth, Chinn and Waddill. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
16th inst. 

On motion of Mr. Humble, the vote 
adopting the 23d section was reconsidered, 
and said section was taken up—viz : 

Sec. 23. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed in civil cases 
the sum of one hundred dollars exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the 
district court in all cases wherein the mat¬ 
ter in dispute shall exceed twenty-five dol¬ 
lars. They shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied votes of each parish for the term of 
two years. 

Mr. Preston offered as a substitute for 
the above section, the 10th section of the 
minority report, viz : 

Sec. 10. A suitable number of magis. 
frates shall be chosen in every parish, by 


the qualified electors thereof, for the term 
ot two years, who shall have jurisdiction 
of all cases when the amount in contro¬ 
versy, or penalty to be inflicted, does not 
exceed one hundred dollars, subject to ap¬ 
peal, to be determined by law, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be pro¬ 
vided by law. 

Mr. Garrett moved that the substitute 
be laid on the table indefinitely; the yeas 
and nays being called for (Mr. Taylor of 
Assumption in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brum¬ 
field, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hyn¬ 
son, King, Lewis 4 Marigny, Mazareau, 
Peets , Prescott of Avoyelles, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wederstrandt, and Wikoff 
voted in the affirmative—26 yeas: and 

Messrs. Brent, Briant, Burton, Carri¬ 
ere, Covillion, Humble, Me Callop, McRae, 
Mayo, Porter, Preston, Ratliff', Saunders, 
Scott of Feliciana, and Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion votedin the negative—15 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words, “in all cases 
wherein the matter in dispute shall exceed 
twenty-five dollars,” and insert in lieu 
thereof the following words, “in such cases 
as shall be provided for by law;” which 
amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by adding at the end of the same the fol¬ 
lowing amendment, viz . “And shall have 
such criminal jurisdiction as shall be pro¬ 
vided for by law;” which amendment was 
adopted. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 23. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed, in civil cases, 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive of 
interest, subject to an appeal to the district 
court, in such cases as shall be provided for 
by law. They shall be elected by the 
qualified voters of each parish for the term 
of two years, and shall have such criminal 
jurisdiction as shall be provided for by law. 

Mr. Claiborne gave notice that he 
will on a future day more to reconsider the 
vote adopting after reconsideration the 
amendment of the seventh section, because 
he believed the reconsideration to be out 
of order. 






224 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


(Mr. Taylor of Assumption in the 
chair.) The question of order raised is a 
very important one, and the chair thinks it 
proper to express its opinion on it, although 
it is not now necessary to decide it for¬ 
mally. 

The chair does not concur in the opin¬ 
ion expressed by the delegate from New 
Orleans, that the rules were made for the 
protection of absent members, and that 
they cannot be dispensed with without pre¬ 
vious notice. 

Rules are made for the government of 
the house, and that is composed of the mem¬ 
bers present forming a quorum. 

In the opinion of the chair it does not admit 
of a doubt, that four-fifths of the members 
present can at any time and without any 
previous notice, suspend any rule; and that 
the proceedings had in pursuance of such 
suspension of a rule, are in all respects 
regular, and that they cannot at any future 
time be called in question on that ground. 
Any thing done with the unanimous assent 
of the house, as in the instance referred to, 
necessarily involves a suspension of the 
rules, and the chair would in consequence 
decide that there had been in that instance 
no violation of the rules adopted for its 
government. 

Mr. Sellers gave notice that he would, 
on Thursday next, move to reconsider the 
vote adopting the eighth section of the legis¬ 
lative article. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section second ofthe majority report. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed five hundred dollars. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment was the motion of Mr. Lewis 
to amend said section by inserting after 
the word “ jurisdiction,” in the second line, 
the words “ on questions of law.” 

On motion the order of the day was laid 
on the table, subject to call. 

Mr. Ratliff, chairman of the commit¬ 
tee on contingent expenses, submitted the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved, that the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorized to issue war¬ 
rants in favor of, viz : 


.T. Demornell for the sum of two hundred 
and fifty dollars; 

One in favor of Major Galley, command¬ 
ing New Orleans battalion of artillery, for 
the sum of one hundred and six dollars and 
eighty cents; 

One in favor of Conrey & Co. for the 
sum of sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents; 

One in favor of Rufus Fernandez, jr. for 
the sum of four hundred and ninety-six dol¬ 
lars and thirty-seven cents; 

One in favor ofthe wardens of the church 
of St. Louis, of the city of New Orleans; 
for the sum of ninety dollars; 

One in favor ofP. H. Mousseau for the 
sum of eighty dollars; 

One in favor of A. Formes, for the sum 
twenty-two dollars. 

One in favor of Besangon, Ferguson & 
Co., editors ofthe Jeffersonian, for the sum 
of eight dollars. 

Mr. Eustis moved that the Convention 
adjourn till Monday next at 9 o’clock, a. 
m. The yeas and nays being called for 
(Mr. Taylor of Assumption, in the cair), 
Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Carriere, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Culbertson, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Humble, King, Lewis , Marig- 
ny, Prescott of Avoyelles, Ratliff, Roman, 
Soule , Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and 
Wikoff voted irt the affirmative—22 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg , Brent, Burton, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, Hynson, Me- 
Callop, Mayo, Beets, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana and Sellers voted in the negative— 
17 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried, end the Convention adjourned till 
Monday at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members abent at the first call 
of the house: Messrs. Cade, Chinn, Der- 
bes, Downs, O'Bryan, Penn, Read, Scott 
of Baton Ruge, Scott of Madison, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Winder absent on leave; Mr. 
Porche absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Benjamin,Boudousquie, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes , Guion, Labciuve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Preston, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
j Trist, Wikoff and Winchester did not an¬ 
swer to their names. 





225 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana . 


Note,— Absent at the second call: Messrs. 
Benjamin, Boudousquie, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Preston, Ro- 
selius, St. Amand, Splane, Trist, Wikoff 
and Winchester. 

Note. -—Absent at the third call: Messrs. 
Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Courad ol New Orleans, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Garcia, Grymes, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, Trist, 
Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester. 


Monday, April 28, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the re¬ 
quest of the president, opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
16th and 17th instant. 

On motion, Messrs. Soule, Sellers, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyolles and Taylor of Assumption 
were excused for non-attendance on ac¬ 
count of illness. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Section second of the majority report 
on the judiciary. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed five hundred dollars. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by adding at the end of the same the fol¬ 
lowing amendment, viz: 

“The legislature may limit the jurisdic¬ 
tion of the supreme court to questions of 
law only, in such cases as shall be deter¬ 
mined by law.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, on 
the adoption of said amendment, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Car¬ 
rier e, Chambliss, Conrad, Covillion, Guion, 
Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
Peels, Porter, Pugh, Scott of Feliciana 
and Taylor of St. Landry voted in the affir¬ 
mative—18 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brumfield, Cenas, Claiborne, Dunn , 
Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, King, Legendre, 
Me Cal lop, Marigny , Mazur eau, Prudhom- 
29 


me, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, Stephens, 
W;zdertrandt Wikoff and Winder voted in 
the negative—27 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost, and the amendment was 
rejected. 

Mr. Lewis then offered on behalf of Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption, the following as 
substitute to said section, viz : 

“The supreme court shall have civil and 
criminal jurisdiction on appeals or writs of 
error in such cases as the legislature may 
direct, which shall be exercised in the 
manner prescribed by law;” which substi¬ 
tute was rejected.” 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by striking out in the last line the word 
“five,” and insert in lieu thereof the word 
“three.” The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, WedeTstrandt, Wikoff and 
Winder voted in the affirmative-^—27 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Eustis, Grymes, Guion, King, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Marigny , Mazureau, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius and St. Amand voted in the 
negative—18 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall r end to all cases where the matter 
in ai *te shall exceed three hundred 
dollars. 

Section twenty-second was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 22. The clerks of the several 
courts shall be removable for breach of 
good behavior, by the judges thereof, sub¬ 
ject in all cases, to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans gave notice that 
he will on Wednesday, move to recon¬ 
sider the vote rejecting the substitute offer¬ 
ed by Mr. Claiborne, providing that the 
executive shall send to the senate the 







226 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


names of all judges whose term of service 
shall have expired. 

Mr. Claiborne gave notice that he 
will on Wednesday next, move to recon¬ 
sider the vote adopting the first section of 
article fourth. 

Mr. Mayo gave notice that he will on 
Wednesday next, move to reconsider the 
vote adopting the eleventh and twelfth 
sections of article fourth. 

Mr. Porter submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional sections, viz : 

Sec. —. Clerks in the district courts in 
this State, shall be elected by the qualified 
electors in each parish, for the term of 
years, and should a vacancy occur 
subsequent to an election, it shall be filled 
by the judge of the court in which such 
vacancy exists, and the person so appoint¬ 
ed shall hold his office until the next gene¬ 
ral election. 

Sec. —. A sheriff shall be elected in 
each parish by the qualified voters thereof, 
who shall hold his office for the term of 
two years, unless sooner removed ; and 
who shall not be eligible to serve cither as 
principle or deputy for the two succeeding 
years. Should a vacancy occur subse¬ 
quent to an election, it shall be filled by the 
governor, and the person so appointed 
shall continue in office until the next 
general election. 

Sec. —. All other parish officers shall 
be elected by the qualified electors of the 
different parishes, in such manner as shall 
be prescribed by law. 

Mr. Conrad moved that the above sec¬ 
tions be laid on the table, and made the 
special order of the day for Wednesday 
next, and that they be printed. 

Mr. Brent moved for a division, that is, 
to take up each section separately, which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Conrad then moved that the first 
section be laid on the table, and made the 
special order of the day for Wednesday 
next, and that the same be printed, which 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Humble moved to fill the blank in 
the first section with the word “two.” 

Mr. Garrett moved to fill the blank 
in said section with the word “four.” 

Mr. Cenas moved to fill the blank with 
the word “six.” The yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 


Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans? 
Eustis, Guion, Legendre, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, Splane, Taylor of St. 
Landry and Wadsworth voted in the af¬ 
firmative—16 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covil- 
lion, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prudhomme, Ratliff, St. 
Amantd, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Wederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the negative— 
29 nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Garrett then moved to fill the 
blank with “four.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudous¬ 
quie, Bourg, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
King, Lewis, Peets, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—25 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Humble, Hynson, Legendre, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, Ratliff, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Stephens and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—20 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the blank filled with 
the word “four.” 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion to adopt the first section as 
amended, viz: 

Sec. —. Clerks of the district courts in 
this State, shall be elected by the qualified 
electors in each parish for the term of four 
years; and should a vacancy occur subse¬ 
quent to an election, it shall be filled by 
the judge of the court in which such vacan¬ 
cy exists, and the person so appointed shall 
hold his office until the next general elec¬ 
tion—resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Bra%eale, Brent, Brumfield , 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillon, 
Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo , Peets, Porter, Prud¬ 
homme, Ratliff, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, TVed- 
ersirandt and Wikoff voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Bourg, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or- 



227 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis , Guion, 
King, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Homan, Roselius, $/. Amand, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth and JJm- 
ffer voted in the negative—22 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was carried, and the 
section as amended was adopted. 

Mr. Wadsworth then gave notice that 
he will, on Wednesday next, move to re¬ 
consider the vote adopting said section. 

Mr. Garrett submitted the following 
additional section, and the same was rejec¬ 
ted, viz: 

“Clerks of courts shall be required to 
give bond and security in the manner to be 
determined by law, before entering upon 
the discharge of their official duties.” 

The second additional section offered 
by Mr. Porter was taken up, viz: 

Sec. A sheriff shall be elected in each 
parish by the qualified voters thereof, who 
shall hold his office for the term of two 
years, unless sooner removed; and who 
shall not be eligible to serve either as prin¬ 
cipal or deputy, for the two succeeding 
years. Should a vacancy occur subse¬ 
quent to an election, it shall be filled by 
the governor, and the person so appointed 
shall continue in office until the next gen¬ 
eral election. 

Mr. Mayo moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “and who shall 
not be eligible to serve either as principal 
or deputy for the two succeeding years.” 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Guion, Humble, Hynson, King, Le¬ 
gendre , Lewis, McRae , Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter , Prudhomme, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Fe¬ 
liciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Wederstrandt,Wikoff and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—34 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Garrett, McCallop, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roselius, Saunders and 
Wadsworth voted in the negative—11 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Eustis moved to lay on the table 
subject to call, the said section; which mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Conryd of Orleans moved to 


amend said section, by adding to the same 
the following proviso, viz: 

Provided, That if any sheriff should 
fail to pay over any moneys of the State 
collected by him, the parish for which he 
was elected, shall be responsible for the de¬ 
ficiency. 

Mr. Brent moved that said proviso be 
laid on the table indefinitely. 

And pending the discussion on said mo¬ 
tion, the Convention adjourned until to¬ 
morrow, at nine o’clock, a. m. 

Note —Members absent at the first call 
of the house—Messrs. Beatty,Cade,Chinn, 
Derbes, Downs, Hudspeth, O’Bryan, 
Penn, Read, Scott of Madison, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Winder absent on leave— 
Messrs. Porche, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Soule, Sellers and Taylor of Assumption, 
absent on account of illness—and Messrs. 
Benjamin, Brumfield, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, Garcia, 
Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Marigny, Preston, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester 
did not answer to their names. 

Note— Members absent at the second 
call of the house—Messrs. Benjamin,Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Preston, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winches¬ 
ter did not answer to their names at the 
second call. 


Tuesday, April 29, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of 
the printers for the report of the debates 
of the 17th inst. 

This being the day fixed to reconsider 
the vote laying on the table subject to call, 
the resolution allowing mileage to mem¬ 
bers, 

Mr. Humble moved for the reconsidera¬ 
tion; the yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion , 
Culbertson, Dunn , Humble, Hynson , Mc¬ 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peels, Penn , Porter, 






2 28 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Splane, Stephens , Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Wederstrandt, and Wikojf voted 
in the affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Boarg , 
Carriere, Eustis, Guion, Kenner , King, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Winchester and 
Winder votedjin thnegative-—17 nays; con¬ 
sequently the motion was carried, and the 
resolution was taken up, viz : 

“Resolved, That the committee on con- 
gent expenses be instructed to inquire into 
and ascertain the amount of mileage due to 
each member of this body, for his travel¬ 
ing to and returning home from the Con¬ 
vention in New Orleans, and direct the 
payment of the same.” 

To which resolution Mr, BnATTy had 
offered the following amendment, viz : 

“And that the committee report to the 
Convention.” 

Mr. Guion moved the adoption of the 
amendment, which motion was lost, 

Mr. Kenner then offered the following 
amendment, viz: 

“Provided that when the member lives 
farther from New Orleans than from the 
town of Jackson, but when the member 
lives nearer to New Orleans than to Jack- 
son no additional mileage shall be allow¬ 
ed.” 

Mr. Guion moved to lay the whole sub¬ 
ject on the table indefinitely; and the yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Brazeale, 
Brent, Briant, Carriere, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Eustis, Guion, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, 
Penn , Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikojf, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Couvillon, Cul¬ 
bertson,Dunn, Humble, Hynsqn, McCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff,Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill and Weder¬ 
strandt voted in the negative—80 nays; 
conse 4 uenily said motion was lost. 

Mr Ratliff moved to lay the proviso 
offered by Mr Kenner on the table indefi- 
nitely, the yeas and nays being called for 


Messrs. Briant, Brumfield', Burton, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Humble, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill Wederstrandt and Wi- 
koffv oted in the affirmative-”—29 yeas; and 

Messrs Aubert, Boudousquie, Brazeale, 
Brent, Carriere,Cenas, Claiborne, Eustis, 
Guion , Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Mazureau, Penn, Pugh, 
Roman, Wadsworth, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—22 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was carried. 

Mr. Ratliff then moved for the adop¬ 
tion of the resolution; the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

M essrs. Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, 
Humble, McCallop, McRae, Peets, Porter , 
Prescott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read,Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt, 
voted in the affirmative—25 yeas ; and 

Messrs, Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Carriere, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hynson, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Mazareau, 
Penn, Prudhomme , Pugh, Roman, Trist , 
Wadsworth, Wikojf, Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—29 nays conse. 
quently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz : 

Resolved, That mileage be paid to mem¬ 
bers who reside further from New Orleans 
than Jackson, for the additional distance to 
and from their residence, to New Orleans; 
and for those who live nearer New Orleans 
than Jackson, such sum shall be paid them 
as mileage in addition to what has already 
been paid to them, as will make the whole 
mileage to such members, equal to full 
mileage for going and returning from Jack- 
son to New Orleans. 

Mr. Waddill moved to lay Said resolu¬ 
tion on the table, which motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved for the adoption of the 
resolution, and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton , Ce¬ 
nas, Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Culbert - 






229 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


son , Dunn, Humble, Garnett, Hynson,Lewis, 
Me Call’op, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of St.Landry, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voor¬ 
hies, Wederstrandt and Wikoff" voted in 
the affirmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Carriers, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis,Guion, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Mazu- 
reau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Waddill, Wadsworth and 
Winder voted in tlfe negative—22 nays ; 
consequently said motion was carried, and 
the resolution was adopted. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 
incorporate in the general provisions, an 
additional section, providing that the sec¬ 
retary of the senate and the clerk of the 
house of representatives shall speak the 
French and English languages. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The following section, offered by Mr. 
Porter, viz ; 

Sec. 2. A sheriff shall be elected in 
each parish, by the qualified voters there¬ 
of, who shall hold his office for the term of 
two years, unless sooner removed; should 
a vacancy occur subsequent to an election, 
it shall be filled by the governor, and the 
person so appointed shall continue in office 
until his successor be elected and qualified. 

To which section, Mr. Conrad of Or¬ 
leans had offered the following proviso, 
viz : 

“ Provided, That if any sheriff should 
fail to pay over any moneys of the State 
collected by him, the parish for which he 
was elected shall be responsible for the 
deficiency.’’ 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved for the 
adoption of the proviso; the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Legendre, Mazu- 
reau, Pugh, Voorhies and Wadsworth voted 
in the affirmative—9 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale , Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carrier e, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott ot 


Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Waddill, IVederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the negative 
—41 nays ; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Porter then moved for the adoption 
of the section; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriers, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett,Guion, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Lewis, Ale- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Penn, Porter, Prescott of St Landry, Prud¬ 
homme, Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, IVederstrandt, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of- Jefferson, Eustis, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Mazureau, Pugh,Roman, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry and Wadsworth 
voted in the negative—18 nays ; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried. 

Section third, offered by Mr. Porter, 
was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 3. All parish officers not otherwise 
provided for by this constitution, shall be 
elected by the qualified electors of the dif¬ 
ferent parishes, in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “ elected by the 
qualified electors of the different parishes,” 
and insert in lieu thereof the word “ap¬ 
pointed;” which amendment was lost. 

Mr. Cenas moved to lay the section and 
amendment on the table, subject to call; 
which motion was lost. 

Mr. Porter then moved for the adoption 
of the section; and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covil¬ 
lion, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Ratliff, Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi¬ 
koff voted the affirmative—-31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, 



230 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana* 


Guioti, Kenner , King , Labauve, Legendre , 
Lewis , Marigny , Mazureau, Pugh , Roman , 
Splane , Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth , 
WiAc/jesfisr and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—25 nays; consequently said motion 
was carried, and the section was adopted. 

On motion, the Convention took up arti¬ 
cle sixth. 

ARTICLE SIX-GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Sec. 1. Members of the general assem¬ 
bly, and all officers, executive and judicial, 
before they enter upon the execution of 
their respective offices, shall take the fol¬ 
lowing oath or affirmation; “I, (A. B.) do 
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith¬ 
fully and impartially discharge and perform 

all the duties incumbent on me as-, 

according to the best of my abilities and 
understanding, agreeably to the rules and 
regulations of the constitution and laws of 
this State. So help me God!” 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, said article 
was laid on the table subject to call. 

Section second was taken up and adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Sec. 2. Treason against the State shall 
consist only in levying war against it, or 
in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid 
and comfort. No person shall be convict¬ 
ed of treason, unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or his 
own confession in open court. 

Section third was taken up and adopted, 
viz: 

Sec. 3. Every person shall be forever 
disqualified from serving as governor, sen¬ 
ator or representative, and from holding 
any other office of trust or profit in this 
State, who shall have been convicted of 
having given, or offered any bribe to pro¬ 
cure his election or appointment. 

Section fourth was taken up and adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Sec. 4. Laws shall be made to exclude 
from office and from the right of suffrage, 
those who shall hereafter be convicted of 
bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high 
crimes : or misdemeanors. The privilege 
of free suffrage shall pe supported bylaws 
regulating elections, and prohibiting under 
adequate penalties, all undue influence 
thereon, from power, bribery, tumult or 
other improper practices. 

Section fifth was taken up and adopted, 
viz : 

Sec, 5. No money shall be drawn from 


I the Treasury but in pursuance of specific 
appropriations made by law; nor shall any 
appropriation of money for the support of 
an army be made for a-longer term than 
one year. A regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all pub¬ 
lic money shall be published annually, in 
such manner as shall bejprescribed by law. 

Section sixth was then taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly to pass such laws as may 
be necessary and proper to decide differ¬ 
ences by arbitrators, ’to be appointed by 
the parties who may choose that summary 
mode of adjustment. 

Section seventh was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 7. All civil officers for the State at 
large shall reside within the State, and all 
district or parish officers within their re¬ 
spective districts or parishes, and shall 
keep their respective offices at such places 
therein as may be required by law. And 
no person shall be elected or appointed to 
any district or parish office who shall not 
have resided in such district or parish long 
enough before such election, or appoint¬ 
ment, to have acquired the right of voting 
for representatives to the general assembly, 
in such district or parish. 

Mr. Eustis moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out all of the last para¬ 
graph commencing at the word “and” in 
the fifth line. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
said amendment by striking out in the 
sixth line the words “district or.” The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Eustis, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Legendre, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Roman, Saunders, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
20 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, La¬ 
bauve, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn,Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Tiist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff 
and Winder, voted in the negative—36 
nays; consequently said jnotion was lost. 




231 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Kenner moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by inserting after the word “ district” 
in the seventh line, the words “ next 
adjoining or contiguous.” The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Kenner, 
King, Labaqve, Legendre, Marjgny, Mazu- 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Wadsworth 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Humble, Hynson; Lewis, Mc- 
Caliop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Yoorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
negative—33 nays ; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

Mr. Lewis then moved for the adoption 
of the section. The yeas and nays being 
ailed for, 

Messrs, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant* 
Biumfield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, La- 
bauve, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Eustis, Guion, Kenner, King, Le¬ 
gendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Roman,Wads¬ 
worth and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—20 nays; consequently said motion 
was carried, and the section was adopted, 
as follows, viz: 

Sec. 7. All civil officers for the State 
at large shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
respective districts or parishes, and shall 
keep their respective offices at such places 
therein as may be required by law; and no 
personshall be elected or appointed to any 
district or parish office, who shall not have 
resided in such district or parish long 


enough before such election or appoint¬ 
ment, to have acquired the right of voting 
for representatives to the general assem¬ 
bly in such district or parish. 

Section eighth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 8. The legislature shall determine 
the duration of the several public offices, 
when such duration shall not have been 
fixed by this constitution; Provided, that 
such time shall never exceed four years, 
except notaries public, whose time of of¬ 
fice may be extended to seven years; and 
all civil officers, except the governor and 
judges of the superior and inferior courts, 
shall be removable by an address of a ma¬ 
jority of the members of both houses, ex¬ 
cept those the removal of whom has been 
otherwise provided for by this constitution. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “except notaries 
public, whose time of office may be ex¬ 
tended to seven years;” which motion pre¬ 
vailed. 

On motion the first paragraph of said 
section was adopted, viz: 

The legislature shall determine the du¬ 
ration of the several public offices, where 
such duration shall have been fixed by this 
constitution. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to amend the 
second paragraph by striking out the words 
“provided that such time shall never ex¬ 
ceed four years.” The yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Chambliss, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Claiborne, 
Culbertson, Eustis,Garrett,Guion, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Ma¬ 
zureau, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth, Wikoff, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—29 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Covillion, Dunn, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, King, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Splane, Stephens, \ oorhies, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—25 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

On the motion to adopt the section as 
amended, 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or- 




232 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Prudhom- 
me, Roman, Saunders, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester, Win¬ 
der voted in the affirmative—26 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Dunn, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Wikoff voted in the negative—27 nays. 
The president being called upon to vote, 
voted in the negative; consequently said 
motion was lost, and the section as 
amended was rejected. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members abent at the first call: 
Messrs. Beatty, Cade, Derbes, * Downs, 
Hudspeth, O’Bryan, Penn, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Read, Scott of Madison, Ab¬ 
sent on leave. Messrs. Porche, Soule, 
Sellers and Taylor of Assumption, absent 
on account of illness. Messrs. Benjamin, 
Brumfield, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Porter, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Ratliff, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Splane, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winchester 
did not answer to their names. 

Note —Members absent at second call 
of the house: Messrs. Benjamin, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, Garcia, 
Grymes, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
ton, Roselius, St. Amand and Trist. 


Monday, ApriF30, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel, the honorable Mr. Stephens, opened 
the proceedings with prayer. 

On motion leave of absence was granted 
to Messrs. Scott of Feliciana and Penn. 

Mr. Brent having voted in the majority 
moved to reconsider the vote rejecting the 
eighth section, which motion prevailed, 
and said section was taken up, viz: 


Sec. 8. The legislature shall determine 
the duration of the several public offices, 
when such duration shall not have been fix¬ 
ed by this Constitution; Provided that such 
time shall never exceed four years except 
notaries public, whose time of office may 
be extended to seven years; and all civil 
officers, except the governor and judges of 
the supreme and district courts, shall be re¬ 
movable by an address of a majority of 
the members of both houses, except those, 
the removal of whom, has been otherwise 
provided for by this Constitution. 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to amend said 
section by striking out in the fourth line, 
the words, “provided that such duration 
shall never exceed four years.” The yeas 
and nays being called for 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie , 
Bourg , Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Eustis, Guion, Kenner , King, La - 
bauve, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Prudhomme, Pugli, Roman , St. Amand, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—22 yeas, and 

Messrs. Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car - 
riere, Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Dunn, Humble, Hynson, Lewis , McCal- 
lop, McRae, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist r Voorhies, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt and Wikoff voted in the negative— 
28 nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo then moved to amend said 
section, by striking out, in the fifth and 
sixth lines the words, “ except notaries 
public, whose time of office may be extend¬ 
ed to seven years.” The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere , Chambliss, Covillion, 
Dunn, Guion, Humble, Hynson,King, Lew¬ 
is, Me Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter , 
Prescott, of St. Landry, Preston, Ratliff, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Wed- 
estrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin,Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Culbertson, Eustis, Kenner,Labauve, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Prudhom¬ 
me, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Trist and 
Winchester voted in the negative—20 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried. 






233 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Mr. Mayo then moved for the adoption 
of the section as amended, viz: 

Sec. 8. The legislature shall determine 
the duration of the several public officeis, 
when such duration shall not have been 
fixed by this constitution; provided that 
such time shall never exceed four vears, 
and all the civil officers except the gover¬ 
nor and judges of the supreme and district 
courts, shall be removable by an address of 
the members of both houses, except those 
the removal of whom has been otherwise 
provided for by this Convention. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Claiborne , Cov- 
illion, Culbertson , Dunn, Guion, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Labauve , Lewis, Me Gal¬ 
lop, McRae, Mayo , Beets, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott, of Baton Rouge, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voor- 
hies, Waddill Wederstrandt, Will off, and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—30 yeas ; 
and 

M vsssrs. Aiibert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Conrad of Orleans, Eustis, King, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mauzreau, Roman, St. 
Amcind and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—13 nays, consequently said motion 
was carried and the section was adopted. 

This being the day fixed for the recon¬ 
sideration of the vote adopting the first 
section of the article on the judiciary de¬ 
partment, on motion the same was laid 
on the table subject to call. 

This being the day fixed to reconsider 
the vote adopting the 11th and 12th sec¬ 
tions on-the judiciary, the same was laid 
on the table subject to call. 

This being the day fixed to reconsider 
the vote rejecting the substitute offered by 
Mr. Eustis to Mr. Claiborne, the same was 
laid on the table subject to call- 

This being the day fixed to reconsider 
the = vote adopting the additional section 
offered by Mr. Porter, relative to clerks 
of courts, the same was laid on the table 
subject to call. 

Communication of Mr. Marigny. 

A few days ago I laid apon the desk a 
section to be inserted under the head of 
general provisions. The object of the sec¬ 
tion was to empower the legislature to ex¬ 
tend the right of citizenship to persons ol 
30 


colored origin, whenever required by the 
public interest. 

But public op ion being against the meas¬ 
ure, and many of the members oPthe Con¬ 
vention who seemed to approve of it, hav¬ 
ing since expressed themselves against it. 
I am now satisfied that it would be rejected. 

I believe it is my duty to withdraw it. 
I trust that the members of the Con¬ 
vention of the State at large will do me 
the justice to believe that my motives 
were pure, I thought that it was proper to 
grant to the legislature a power that it was' 
not likely would be abused, and the exer¬ 
cise of which might, undei certain circum¬ 
stances, redound to the benefit of the State. 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Sec. 9. Absence on the business of this 
State, or of the United States, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
tinder this State, under the exceptions con¬ 
tained in this constitution. 

Mr. Guion moved for the rejection of 
said section; the yeas and nays being cal¬ 
led for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Guion. King, Legendre, Trist and 
Voorhies voted in the affirmative—8 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, Bra¬ 
zeale, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Culbertson, Dunn, 
Garrett,Humble,Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets , Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton , Prudhomme, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Ro¬ 
man, Si. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, 
Wedestrandt , Wileoff Winchester and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—40 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost, and the sec¬ 
tion was adopted. 

Section tenth was taken up and adopted, 
viz : 

Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the 
general assembly to regulate, by law, in 
what cases, arid what deduction from the 
salaries of public officers shall be made 
for neglect of duty in their official capacity. 

Section eleventh was taken up and adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Sec. 11. Returns of all elections for mem- 





234 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 

bers of the general assembly shall be made | Mr. Chinn moved for the previous ques- 
to the secretary of State, for the time being, t tion, which motion prevailed. 

Section twelfth was taken up, viz : On motion, the thirteenth section was 

Sec. 12. The legislature shall point out adopted, viz: 
the manner in which a person coming into Sec. 13. In all elections by the people, 
the country shall declare his residence. the vote shall be by ballot; and in all elec- 
Mr. Brent moved for the rejection of tions by the senate and house of represen- 
said section; the yeas and nays being cal- tatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall 
led for, be given viva voce. 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Brum-\ Section fourteenth was taken up and 
field , Carriere, Humble, Hynson , King, Me- adopted, viz: 

* Rae, Mayo, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Sec* 14. No member of congress, nor 
Preston, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Ste- person holding or exercising any office of 
phens, Trist, Waddill and Wederstrandt trust or profit under the United States, or 
voted in the affirmative—18 yeas ; and either of them, or any foreign power, shall 
Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, be eligible as a member ot the general as- 
Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai- sembly of this State, or hold or exercise 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Cotillion, Cul - any office of trust or profit under the same. 
bertson, Dunn, Garrett, Guion , Kenner, Section fifteenth was taken up and adopt. 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis,MeCallop, Mar- ed, viz: 

igny Mazureau , Prudhomme, Pugh, Rat - Sec. 15. All laws that may be passed 
liff, Roman, St. Amand, Taylor of St. Lan- by the legislature, and the public records 
dry, Wadsworth, Wikof, Winchester and of this State, and the judicial and legisla- 
Winder voted in the negative—31 nays; tive written proceedings of the same, shall 
consequently said motion was lost, and the be promulgated, preserved, and conducted 
section was adopted. in the language in which the constitution 

Section thirteenth was then taken up< of the United States is written, 
viz: Section sixteenth was taken up and adopt- 

Sec. 13. In all elections by the people, ed, viz: 
the vote shall be by ballot; and in all elec- Sec. 16. The general assembly shall 
tions by the senate and house of represen- direct by law, how persons who are now, 
tatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall or may hereafter become securities for 
be given viva voce. public officers, may be relieved or dis- 

Mr. Preston moved to amend said sec- charged on account of such securityship. 
tion, by striking out in the second line, the Section seventeenth was taken up and 
words “by ballot,” and inserting the words adopted, viz: 

“ viva voce.” The yeas and nays being Sec. 17. No power of suspending the 
called for, laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 

Messrs. Garrett, Humble, McRae, Pres- by the legislature or its authority, 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, RatlilF, Read, Mr. Marigny called up the additional 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt, Wik- section submitted by him, viz: 
off and Winchester voted in the affirmative Sec. 18. The secretary of the senate, 
11 yeas; and and the clerk of the house of representa- 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin,Boudousquie, tives, shall possess the French and English 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Bryant, Brumfield, languages; and any member of the general 
Burton, Carriere,Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, assembly may address either house in the 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, French or English language. 

Culbertson, Dunn, Guion, Hynson, Ken- Mr. Marigny moved for the adoption of 
ner, King, LaBuave, Legendre, Lewis, said section. The yeas and nays being 
McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, called for, 

Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin,Boudousquie, 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens, \ Bourg, Briant, Carriere, Conrad of Orleans 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, and Win- Covillion, Kenner, King , Labauve, Legen- 
der, voted in the negative—40 nays; con- j dre, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, Pres - 
sequently said motion was lost. ‘ cott of St, Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro~ 


235 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 

/ 


mail, Scott of Baton Rouge, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill , Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, and 
Winchester voted the affirmative—26 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield , Z?wr- 
£o?i, Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, Garrett 
Guion, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, McRae, 
Mayo, Porter, Preston, Ratliff, Read, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, and Wikoff 
voted in the negative; 21 nays, consequent, 
ly said motion was carried and the section 
was adopted. 

Section nineteenth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 19. In all criminal prosecutions, 
the accused shall have the right of being 
heard by himself or counsel, of demanding 
the nature and cause of the accusation 
against him, of meeting the witnesses face 
to face, of having compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor throughout 
the State, and prosecution by indictment 
or information; a speedy public trial, by 
an impartial jury of the vicinage, nor shall 
he be compelled to give evidence against 
himself. 

Mr. Preston moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by striking out in the sixth line the 
words ‘ throughout the State.” The yeas 
and nays were called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Garrett, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner , King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhotn- 
me, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Roman, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Winchester, and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—38 yeas;; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Brazeale, 
Burton, Chambliss, Dunn, Guion, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae , Marigny and Splane 
voted in the negative—12 nays; conse-; 
quently said motion was carried. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall have the right of being heard, by 
himself or counsel; of demanding the na¬ 
ture and cause of the accusation against 
him; of meeting the witnesses face (o face; 
of having compulsory process for obtain¬ 
ing witnesses in his favor, and prosecution 
by indictment or information; a speedy 


and public trial by an impartial jury of the 
vicinage, nor shall he be compelled to give 
evidence against himself. 

Section twentieth was taken up and adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Sec. 20. All prisoners shall be bailable 
by sufficient securities, unless for capital 
offences, when the proof is evident, or pre¬ 
sumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspen¬ 
ded, unless when in case of rebellion or 
invasion, the public safety may require it. 

Section twenty-first was then taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 21. No post facto law, nor 
any law impairing the obligations of con¬ 
tracts, shall be passed. 

Mr. Gonrad of New Orleans, moved to 
amend said section, by inserting the words 
“or vested rights be divested. 5 ’ 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend the 
amendment, by adding the words “unless 
for purposes of public utility, and for ade¬ 
quate compensation previously made”— 
which amendment was accepted by Mr. 
Conrad, and the amendment, as amended, 
was adopted. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

No ex post facto law, nor any law im¬ 
pairing the obligations of contracts, shall 
be passed, nor vested rights be divested, 
unless for purposes of public utility, and 
for adequate compensation, previously 
made. 

Section twenty-second was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 22. Printing presses shall be free 
to every person who may undertake to ex¬ 
amine the proceedings of the legislature, 
or any branch of the government, and no 
law shall ever be made to restrain the right 
thereof. The free communication of thouhts 
and opinions is one of the invaluable rights 
of man, and every citizen may freely speak, 
write and print on any subject, being re¬ 
sponsible for the abuse of that liberty. 

Section twenty-third was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 23 . Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Section twenty-fourth was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 24. The first general assemby to 
be elected under this constitution, shall de¬ 
termine upon the place where the seat of 







236 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


government of the State shall be pemanent- 
ly located, from and after the first day of 
January, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-one. 

Mr. Marigny moved for the adoption of 
said section; the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Genas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Guion, King, Legendre, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Preston. Prudhomme, 
Homan, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, Voor- 
Lies, Wadsworth and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett, Humble, 
Kenner, Lewis, McCailop, McRae, Mayo, 
peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Ste¬ 
phens, 'Baylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winder 
voted in the negative—32 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost, and the sec¬ 
tion was rejected. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 
on Friday, move to reconsider the vote re¬ 
jecting the above section, and also the vote 
adopting the section removing the seat of 
government from the city of New Orleans. 

On motion, the twenty-fifth section was 
taken up, viz : 

Sec. 25. The legislature shall not have 
power or authority to pledge the faith of 
the State as security for the payment of 
any bonds, bills, or other contracts or obli¬ 
gations whatever, nor to borrow money for 
any purpose whatever, except for defray¬ 
ing the expenses of war, or for the purpose 
of repelling an invasion of the State by an 
armed force, or for suppressing an insur¬ 
rection. 

Mr. Cenas moved to amend said section 
by adding to the same the following pro¬ 
viso, rnd the same was adopted, viz : 

Provided , that the State shall have the 
rfglit to issue new bonds in payment of its 
now outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said bonds, how¬ 
ever, to bear upon their face, either in prin¬ 
ciple or interest, an amount less than the 
original obligations they are intended to 
replace. 

On motion, the section as amended, was 
adopted, viz : 

Sec. 25. The legislature shall not have i 


power or authority to pledge the faith of 
the State as security for the payment of 
any bonds, bills, other contracts or obli¬ 
gations whatever, nor to borrow money for 
any purpose whatever, except for defray¬ 
ing the expenses of war, or for the pur¬ 
pose of repelling an invasion of the State 
by an armed force, or of suppressing an 
insurrection. 

Provided , that the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of its 
now outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, to bear upon their face, either in 
principle or interest, an amount less than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

On motion of Mr. Roman, the vote 
adopting said section, was reconsidered. 

Mr. Guion then moved to amend said 
section, by inserting after the word “insur¬ 
rection,” in the seventh line, the words 

or for the payment of the ordinary ex¬ 
penses of the government, when there may 
be a deficiency in the annual revenue.” 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of said amendment, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Garrett, 
Guion, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

.Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Garcia, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Mc¬ 
Cailop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Wikoff 

and Winder voted in the negative-32 

nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion, the section was re-adopted. 

Section twenty-sixth was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 26. The legislature shall provide 
by law for a change of venue in civil and 
criminal cases. 

Section twenty-seventh was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 27. No lottery shell be authorized 
by this State, and the buying and selling 
of lottery tickets within the State shall be 
i prohibited by law. 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 237 


Section twenty-eighth was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 28. No divorce shall be granted 
by the legislature of this State. 

Section twenty-ninth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 29. Every law enacted by the le¬ 
gislature, shall embrace but one object, 
and that" shall be expressed in the title. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion to adopt said section, 

J\I essrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Car- 
riere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Co- 
villion, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Pugh, Read, St. Amand, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddiil, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and WikofF voted in the af¬ 
firmative—41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Garrett, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, McCallop, Rat¬ 
liff, Roman, Roselius, Soule and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the negative—14 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried and the 
section was adopted. 

Section thirtieth was taken up and adop¬ 
ted, viz : 

Sec. 30. Every law of a general nature 
shall be equally applicable to all parts of 
the State. 

Mr. Ratliff gave notice that he will 
on to-morrow move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the twenty-fourth section. 

Mr. Benjamin moved that the Conven¬ 
tion adjourn till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, a. 
m. The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Brumfield, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, 
Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, McCallop, 
Marigny, Mazureau, O’Bryan, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Soule, Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, Waddiil, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and Winches¬ 
ter voted in the affirmative—-32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Dunn, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, King, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
Preston, Prudhoinme, Read, Taylor of St. 
Landry, and Wikoff voted in the negative 
—19 nays; consequently said motion was 


carried, and the Convention adjourned till 
to-morrow at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent at the first call 
of the house: Messrs. Beatty, Cade,Derbes, 
Downs, Hudspeth, O’Bryan, Penn, Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles, Scott of Madison, absent 
on leave. Messrs. Porche, Sellers, Soule 
and Taylor of Assumption, absent on ac¬ 
count of illness; and Messrs. Benjamin, 
Bourg, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia,Grymes, Guion, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Splane, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder did not answer to 
their names. 

Note. —Members absent at the second 
call: Messrs. Benjamin, Cenas, Chinn, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Ledoux, 
Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
selius, St. Amand, Wadsworth, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder did not answer to their 
names. 


Thursday, May 1, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Preston opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

The president submitted the credentials 
of William Dubouchel, the member elect 
from the first senatorial district, to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the death of the late 
Hon. Gilbert Leonard. 

On motion of Mr. Wadsworth Mr. Du¬ 
bouchel took his seat. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
18th ult. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Mr. Saunders. 

Mr. Mayo moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the 29th section. The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Culbertson, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labuave, Le¬ 
doux, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Trist, Voorhies, Waddiil, Wadsworth, 







238 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Carriere, Clai¬ 
borne, Covillion, Legendre and Mazureau 
voted in the negative—7 nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was carried, and the section 
was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 29. Every law of a general na¬ 
ture shall be equally applicable to all parts 
of the State. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo said section 
was laid on the table subject to call. 

Mr. Ratliff moved to reconsider the 
vote adopting the twenty-fourth section, 
which motion prevailed, and the said sec¬ 
tion was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 24. The legislature shall not have 
power or authority to pledge the faith of 
the State, as security for the payment of 
any bonds, bills or other contracts or obli¬ 
gations whatever; nor to borrow money for 
any purposes whatever, except for defray¬ 
ing the expenses of war, or for the purpose 
of repelling an invasion of the State by an 
armed force, or of suppressing an insurrec¬ 
tion; provided, that the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of any 
of its now outstanding obligations or liabili¬ 
ties whether due or not, the said new bonds 
however, to bear upon their face, either in 
principal or interest, an amount less than 
the original obligation they are intended to 
replace. 

On motion of Mr. Eustis said section 
was laid on the table subject to call. 

This being the day fixed for the taking 
into consideration the reports of the com¬ 
mittee of revision, the report of said com¬ 
mittee on the seventh article was taken up, 
viz: 

The committee of revision report the fol¬ 
lowing: ( 

(Signed,) G. EUSTIS, 

Chairman. 

April 14, 1845. 

ARTICLE VII. 

MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Any amendment of amendments to this 
constitution may be proposed in the senate 
or house of representatives, and if the same 
shall be agreed to by three-fifths of the 
members elected to each house, and ap¬ 
proved by the governor, such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be enter¬ 
ed on their journals, with the yeas and 
nays taken thereon, and the secretary of 


state shall cause the same to be published, 
three months before the next general elec¬ 
tion, in at least one newspaper, in French 
and English, in every parish in the State 
in which a newspaper shall be published; 
and if, in the legislature next afterwards 
chosen, such proposed amendment or 
amendments shall be agreed to by a ma¬ 
jority of the members elected to each house, 
the secretary of state shall cause the same 
again to be published in the manner afore¬ 
said, at least three months previous to the 
next general election for representatives to 
the State legislature, and such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be sub¬ 
mitted to the people at said election; and 
if the people shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments, by a majority 
of all the qualified voters of the State, such 
amendment or amendments shall become a 
part of the constitution: Provided, that if 
more than one amendment be submitted at 
a time, they shall be submitted in such man¬ 
ner and form that the people may vote for 
or against each amendment, separately. 

On motion said article was adopted as 
reported by the committee. 

Mr. Ratliff agreeably to notice previ¬ 
ously given, moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting said article seventh. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field , Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss , 
Chinn, Covillion, Culbertson, Dubouchel , 
Garrett, Humble , Hynson, Ledoux, 31c- 
C allop, 31cRae, 3Iayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Splane, Stephens , Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt. voted 
in the affirmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg 
Cenas, Claiborne, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia , Guion, Kenner, King, Legendre , 
Lewis, Marigny, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the negative— 
22 nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried and the article was taken up. 
ARTICLE VII. 

MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Any amendment or amendments to this 
constitution may be proposed in the senate 
or house of representatives, and if the same 
shall be agreed to by three-fifths of the 
members elected to each house, and appro¬ 
ved by the governor, such proposed amend- 



239 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 


ment or amendments shall be entered on 
their journals, with the yeas and nays taken 
thereon, and the secretary of state shall 
cause the same to be published, three 
months before the next general election, 
in at least one newspaper, in French and 
English, in every parish in the State in 
which a newspaper shall be published; and 
if, in the legislature next afterwards cho¬ 
sen, such proposed amendment or amend¬ 
ments shall be agreed to by a majority of 
the members elected to each house, the 
secretary of state shall cause the same 
again to be published in the manner afore¬ 
said, at least three months previous to the 
next general election for representatives to 
the State legislature, and such proposed 
amendment or amendments shall be sub¬ 
mitted to the people at said election; and if 
the people shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments, by a majority 
of all the qualified voters of the State, such 
amendment or amendments shall become a 
part of the constitution: Provided , that if 
more than one amendment be submitted at 
a time, they shall be submitted in such 
manner and form that.the people may vote 
for or against each amendment separately. 

Mr. Guion raised a question of order, 
and objected to the motion of reconsidera¬ 
tion having been carried, because the num¬ 
ber voting for the reconsideration, was not, 
as required by the rule, greater than the 
number who voted for the question moved 
to be reconsidered. 

The President inquired of the secretary 
the date of the notice for reconsideration 
given by Mr. Ratliff. 

By reference to the journal it was found 
that the notice was given on the 18th of 
February. 

The President decided that the rule re¬ 
lied upon by Mr. Guion was adopted on the 
12th of April, and could not affect a notice 
given before its adoption. 

Mr. Guion appealed from the decision 
of the Chair. 

On the question, “ shall the President’s 
decision be maintained,” the yeas and nays 
were called for, and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Covillion, Dubouchel, Dunn, Eustis, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton 


Rouge, Stephens, Trist, Voorhics, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Culbertson, Derbes, Garcia , 
Garrett, Guion, Kenner, King, Legendre, 
Lewis, Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St- 
Amand, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth, 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the nega¬ 
tive—22 nays ; consequently the decision 
of the Chair was sustained. 

Mr. Ratliff then moved to amend said 
article by inserting in the fourth and fifth 
lines the words “ a majority” instead of 
“ three-fifths,” and to insert in the 18th line 
“three-fifths” instead of “a majority.” 

Mr. Lewis moved for a division of the 
question, first to proceed to strike out. The 
yeas and nays being called on the motion 
to strike out, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Covillion, Du¬ 
bouchel, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Mc¬ 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Stephens, Trist, Waddill 
and Wedertrandt voted in the affirmative—• 
24 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, 
Guion, Kenner, King, LegendW, Lewis, 
Marigny, Prudhomme, Roman, St. Amand, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Wadswvrth, Wikoff 
Winchester voted in the negative—25 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Chinn moved for the previous ques- 
; tion, which motion prevailed. 

On motion the seventh article was re- 
adopted. •+■ 

Mr. Roman having voted in the majori¬ 
ty, moved to reconsider the vote adopting 
the eighteenth section, which motion pre¬ 
vailed, and the said section was taken up, 
viz : 

Sec. 18. In all criminal prosecutions, 
the accused shall have the right of being 
heard by himself or counsel, of demanding 
the nature and cause of the accusation 
against him, of meeting the witnesses face 
to face, of having compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor, and pros¬ 
ecution by indictment or information; a 
speedy public trial by an impartial jury of 
the vicinage, nor shall he be compelled to 
give evidence against himself. 









‘240 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Eustis moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by inserting after the words “ against 
him,” in the fourth line, the words “and 
unless he shall have fled from justice,” 
which amendment was adopted. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 18 . In all criminal prosecutions, 
the accused shall have the right of being 
heard by himself or counsel, of demanding 
the nature and cause of the accusation 
against him, and unless he shall have fled 
from justice, of meeting the witnesses face 
to face, of having compulsory process for 
obtaining witnesses in his favor, and pros¬ 
ecution by indictment or information; a 
speedy public trial by an impartial jury of 
the vicinage, nor shall he be compelled to 
give evidence against himself. 

Mr. Roman submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, and the same was laid on 
the table subject to call, viz : 

The legislature shall not in any manner 
create any debt or debts, liability or liabili¬ 
ties, which shall singly or in the aggregate, 
with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars,(ex¬ 
cept in cases of war, to repel invasion, and 
suppress insurrection,) unless the same be 
authorized by some law, for some single ob¬ 
ject or work, to be distinctly specified there¬ 
in, which law shall provide ways and means 
by taxation for the payment of running in¬ 
terest during the whole time for which said 
debt shall be contracted, and for the full 
and punctual discharge at maturity of the 
capital borrowed; and said law shall not be 
repealable until the principal and interests 
thereon shall be paid and fully discharged, 
and shall not be put into execution until af¬ 
ter its re-enactment by the first legislature 
returned by a general election after its 
passage. 

Mr. Chinn offered the following addi¬ 
tional sections, which were laid on the ta¬ 
ble subject to call, viz : 

Sec. — Any person who shall, after 
the adoption of this constitution, fight a duel 
with deadly weapons, or send or receive a 
challenge to fight a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, either within the State or out of it, 
or who shall act as a second, or aid and 
assist in any manner those thus offending, 
shall be deprived of holding any'office of 
trust or profit under this constitution. 

Sec. —. I, (A. B.) do solemnly swear 


(or affirm) that I will faithfully and im¬ 
partially discharge and perform all the du¬ 
ties incumbent on me as -, according 

to the best of my abilities and understand¬ 
ing, agreeably to the rules and regulations 
of the constitution and laws of the State; 
and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that since the adoption of this constitution 
I have not fought a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, within this State nor out of it, nor 
have I sent a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second 
in carrying a challenge, or aided, advised 
or assisted any person thus offending—So 
help me God. 

Section thirtieth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 30. No law shall be revised or 
amended by reference to its title; but in 
such case the act revised, or section amend¬ 
ed, shall be re-enacted and published at 
length. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved that said 
section be laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “section” in the 
third line, the words “or article,” and by 
inserting in the first and second lines the 
word “revived” instead of the word “revi¬ 
sed;” which amendments were adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved that said 
section and amendment be laid on the ta¬ 
ble indefinitely. The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Boudousquie , Chinn, Conrad of 
Orleans, Covillion, and Ratliff voted in the 
affirmative—5 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, Bra - 
zeale, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dubouchel, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Humble, Hynson , Kenner, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, Me Callop, McRae, Ma¬ 
ri gny, Mayo, Mazureau, Beets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Read, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, Wikojf, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the negative—51 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 30. No law shall be revised or 
amended by reference to its title; but in 
such case, the act revised, or section or ar- 





241 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


tide amended, shall be re-enacted and pub¬ 
lished at length. 

Section thirty-first was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 31. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stock of any corporation 
or joint stock company. 

Section thirty-second was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 32. No person shall hold or exer¬ 
cise, at the same time, more than one civil 
office in this State, except one of such offi¬ 
ces be that of a justice of the peace. 

On motion of Mr. Eustis, the vote adopt¬ 
ing the above section was reconsidered, 
and the same w'as taken up, viz: 

Sec. 32. No person shall hold or exer¬ 
cise, at the same time, more than one civil 
office in this State, except one of such offi¬ 
ces be that of a justice of the peace. 

Mr. Eustis moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the words ‘‘civil office,” 
in the second line, the words “of emolu¬ 
ment,” which amendment was adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 32. No person shall hold or exer¬ 
cise, at the same time, more than one civil 
office of emolument in this State, except 
one of such offices be that of a justice of 
the peace. 

Section thirty-third was taken up, viz:. 

Sec. 33. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended 
with banking or discounting privileges, 
without six months previous public notice 
of the intended application for the same, in 
such manner as shall be prescribed by law; 
nor shall any charter for the purposes 
aforesaid be granted for a longer period 
than twenty years, and every such charter 
shall contain a clause reserving to the le¬ 
gislature the power to alter, revoke or 
annul.the same whenever, in their opinion, 
it may be expedient so to do; and every 
charter so granted shall be upon the ex¬ 
press condition that the share holders or 
members of such corporations, shall be 
bound severally and in solido , for all the 
liabilities and acts of such corporation, and 
for the consequences resulting therefrom. 

Mr. Kenner moved that said section be 
acted upon, paragraph by paragraph, which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend said section 
by striking out from the word “privileges,” 

31 


in the third line, the balance of the sec* 
tion, viz : 

Without six months' previous public no¬ 
tice of the intended application for the 
same, in such manner as shall be pre¬ 
scribed by law; nor shall any charter, for 
the purposes aforesaid, bo granted for a 
i longer period than twenty years; and every 
such charter shall contain a clause re¬ 
serving to the legislature the power to al¬ 
ter, revoke or annul the same, whenever, 
in their opinion, it may he expedient so to 
do; and every charter so granted shall be 
upon the express condition that the share 
holders or members of such corporation, 
shall be bound personally and in solido , for 
all the liabilities and acts of such corpora¬ 
tion, and for the consequences resulting 
therefrom. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Brent to strike out, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Dubouchel, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Mumble, Kenner, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Porter, PresCott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, St. 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wikoff voted 
in the affirmative—38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Guion, Hynson, King, Legendre, Pugh, 
Roman, Trist, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in the negative-*—19 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried. 

Mr. Kenner then moved to fill the blank 
with the following amendment, viz: 

And should any person circulate, or cause 
to be circulated, any paper money issued 
by any corporation or person existing in 
any other State or country, he shall be 
considered guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
for such offence shall be amenable to such 
penalties as the legislature may determine. 

Mr, Voorhies moved that said amend¬ 
ment be laid on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Eustis, Humble, Le¬ 
doux, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 











242 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Rat¬ 
liff, Read, Roman, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Bourg, Brumfield,Chinn, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel, Dunn, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Legendre, McCallop, Marigny, Ma- 
zureau, Pugh, St. Amand, Trist, Waddill, 
Wikoff Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—25 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Mayo moved for the adoption of the 
section as amended, viz : 

Sec. 33. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with discounting privileges. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Dubouchel, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Kenner, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, We¬ 
derstrandt and Wikoff voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Cenas, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Guion, Hynson, King, Le¬ 
gendre, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, St. 
Amand, Trist, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in the negative—18 nays; consequently 
said motion was adopted. 

Section thirty-fourth was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 34. All charters hereafter granted 
by the legislature, shall terminate on the 
first day of January, in the year one thou¬ 
sand eight hundred and ninety, where no 
certain limit has been fixed in the act of in¬ 
corporation; and no corporate privileges, 
hereafter to be created, shall ever endure 
for a longer term than twenty-five years ; 
provided that this section shall not apply to 
political or municipal corporations. 

Mr. Marigny moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words “and no cor¬ 
porate privileges, hereafter to be enacted, 
shall ever endure for a longer term than 
twenty-five years.” 

On motion of Mr. Cenas said section 
and amendment were laid on the table sub¬ 
ject to call. 


Mr. Claiborne submitted the following 
additional section, and the same was laid 
on the table subject to call, viz : 

It shall be the duty of the legislature to 
define and limit in the chartes of all mu¬ 
nicipal or city corporations, the power of 
levying taxes on property, and of creating 
debts by such corporations, and to confine 
such power, as nearly as possible, to pur¬ 
poses of municipal administration and po¬ 
lice. 

Section thirty-fifth was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 35. The general assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, in such form as to prevent any sub¬ 
sequent legislature from granting similar 
privileges to other individuals or corpora¬ 
tions. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend the sec¬ 
tion by so modifying it as to empower the 
legislature to grant a monopoly for a term 
of years. 

M r. Brent moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “monopoly,” in 
the second line, the words “for a longer pe¬ 
riod than fifteen years,” and to strike out 
the remainder of the section. 

Mr. Benjamin moved to amend the 
amendment of Mr. Brent by inserting 
“twenty” instead of “fifteen,” which amend¬ 
ment was adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 35. The general assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly for a longer period than twenty years. 

Mr. Ratliff submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, and the same was adopted, 
viz : 

The legislature shall direct by law in 
what manner, and in what courts, suits 
may be brought against the State. 

Mr. Eustis, of the committee on educa¬ 
tion, submitted the following, viz: 

An university shall be established in the 
city of New Orleans. It shall be composed 
of four faculties, to-wit: one of law, one of 
medicine, one of the natural sciences, and 
one of letters. 

It shall be called the University of Lou¬ 
isiana; and the Medical College of Louisi¬ 
ana, as at present organized, shall consti¬ 
tute the faculty of medicine. 

The legislature shall provide by law for 
its further organization and government. 

Section thirty-sixth was taken up, viz : 






24 :? 


journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Sec. 36. Slaves shall be forever held 
and considered as immovable, and shall be 
regulated by the same laws as other im¬ 
movable property. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin said section 
was laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Ratliff submitted the -following 
additional section, viz: 

The relation of master and slave in this 
State shall not be abolished, unless a bill so 
to abolish the same shall be passed by a 
unanimous vote of the members of each 
branch of the general assembly, and shall 
be published at least three months before 
a new election of members to the general 
assembly, and shall be confirmed by a 
unanimous vote of the members of each 
branch of the general assembly at the next 
regular constitutional session after such 
new election; nor then, without full com¬ 
pensation to the master for the property of 
which he has been thereby deprived. 

Mr. Benjamin moved for the previous 
question, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Guion moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinitely, and called for the 
yeas and nays which resulted as follows : 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, 
B rent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carrierc , 
Chambliss,Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Dunn, Ber- 
bes, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hum¬ 
ble, Kenner, King, Ledoux, Lews, Legen¬ 
dre, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Prescott of St* Landry, Pugh, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Splane, Stephens, 
Trist, Waddill and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Brazeale, Clai¬ 
borne, C ovillion, Dubouchel, Ilynson, Por¬ 
ter,, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Read, Roman, 
St. Amand, Voorhies, Wederstrandt and 
Winchester voted in the negative—15 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, viz: 

Al 1 officers of this State appointed by 
the governor and senate, or elected by the 
people, shall be required to understand the 
French and English languages, so as to 
transact the business of their offices in 
either language. 

Mr. Marigny moved that said section 
belaid on the table indefinitely. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudous¬ 


quie, Brazeale, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garret, Guion, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Legendre, McCallor, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Roman, St. Amand, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Stephens, Trist, Weder¬ 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—46 yeas: and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brent, Brumfield, Lewis, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Splane, Voorhies 
and Waddill voted in the negative—8 nays; 
consequetly said motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis gave notice that he will on 
Saturday next move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the section offered by Mr. Marig¬ 
ny, requiring that the secretary of the sen¬ 
ate and clerk of the house of representa¬ 
tives should possess the French and Eng¬ 
lish languages. 

Mr. Eustis submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, and the same was adopted, 
viz: 

Sec. — The citizens of the city of New 
Orleans shall have the right of appointing 
the several public officers necessary for the 
administration and police of the said city, 
pursuant to the mode of election which 
shall be prescribed by the legislature; pro¬ 
vided, that the mayor and recorders shall 
be ineligible to a seat in the general assem¬ 
bly; and the mayor and recorders and al¬ 
dermen shall be commissioned by the gov¬ 
ernor as justices of the peace, and the leg¬ 
islature may vest in them such criminal 
jurisdiction as may be necessary for the 
punishment of minor crimes and offences, 
and as the police and good order of said 
city may require. 

Section thirty-seventh was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 37. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, sealed with the State seal, 
and signed by the governor. 

Mr.. Garrett offered the following ad¬ 
ditional section, and the same was adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

The legislature may provide by law in 
what case officers shall continue to per¬ 
form the duties of their offices, until their 
successors shall have been inducted into 
office. 



941 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Garrett submitted the following 
additional section, and the same was laid 
on the table, subject to call, viz: 

All property subject to taxation in this 
State shall be taxed in proportion to its 1 
value, to be ascertained by law. No spe¬ 
cies of property from which a tax may be 
collected, shall be taxed higher than anoth¬ 
er species of property of equal value, and 
subject to taxation. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans submitted the 
following additional section, and the same 
was laid on the table, subject to call, viz: 

Taxation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the State. 

Section thirty-eighth was taken up and 
adopted, viz: 

Sec- 38. the constitution and laws of 
this State shall be published in the French 
as well as in the English language, as here¬ 
tofore. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at nine o’clock a. m. 

Note. —Members absent at the call of 
the roll: Messrs. Beatty, Cade, Derbes, 
Downs, Hudspeth, O’Bryan, Penn, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Feliciana and Scott of Mad 
ison, absent on leave; Messrs. Porche, 
Sellers, Soule and Taylor of Assumption, 
absent on account of illness; and Messrs. 
Benjamin, Briant, Cenas,Chinn,Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Gui- 
on, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, Prud- 
homme, lioselius, St. Amand, Stephens, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Winchester and Win¬ 
der, absent at call. 


Friday, May 2, 1845. 
The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the president, opened the proceedings 
by prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
19th ult. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of St.- Lan¬ 
dry, Mr. Wikoff was excused for nonatten- 

J 7 

dance on account of illness. 

On motion of Mr. Voorhies the addi¬ 
tional section offered by him, delining the 
right of suffrage in certain cases, was taken 

O O 7 

up, viz : 

The right of suffrage shall not be ex¬ 


ercised by any person of unsound mind, 
or who shall be a pauper, or a non-commis¬ 
sioned officer, soldier, seaman, or marine 
in the service of the United States, or by 
! any person convicted of a crime decreed by 
law felony. 

Mr. Chinn moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by inserting after the words “of unsound 
mind” the words “under interdiction.” 

Mr. Claiborne submitted as a substi¬ 
tute for the above section, the following, 
viz : 

No soldier, seaman or marine in the 
army or navy of the United States, or per¬ 
son under interdiction, nor under convic¬ 
tion of any crime punished with hard labor, 
shall be entitled to vote at any elections in 
this State. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend said substitute by inserting after 
the word “ no” in the first line the word 
“ officer.” The yeas and nays being cal¬ 
led for, 

Messrs. Derbes, Humble , King, Mazu¬ 
reau, Ratliff, Taylor of Assumption, Trist , 
Wederslrandt, Wikoff and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—10 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aiibert, Boudoiisquie, Bourg 
Brazeale , Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade , Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Dubouchel, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Gnion, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Splane, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wadsworth and Winder voted in the 
negative—46 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Voorhies, the word 
“pauper” was inserted after the word “Uni¬ 
ted States.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
said substitute by inserting after the word 
“ pauper” the words “notorious vagrant.” 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Boudoiisquie, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn , Guion, Hudspeth, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau,Prudhomme, Roman , St. Amand, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Wads- 
wvrlh, Wedertrandt and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative—20 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Bur - 





245 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ion, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Dubouchel, East is, Humble, Hynson, Ken¬ 
ner, King, Labauve, Me Call op, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens, WaddiU, Wikojf and Winder 
voted in the negative—32nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was lost. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz : 

No soldier, seaman or marine in the 
army or navy of the United States, no pau¬ 
per, no person under interdiction nor un¬ 
der conviction of any crime punishable 
with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote at 
any elections in this State, 

On motion said section was referred to 
the committee of revision to be classed in 
the legislative department. 

Mr. Chinn submitted the following re¬ 
solutions, and the same were referred to a 
special committee of five, viz : 

Resolved, that immediately after the ad¬ 
journment of this Convention, the governor 
shall issue his proclamation directing the 

proper officers to hold elections on the-, 

in every parish in the State at which all 
the qualified voters under the old constitu¬ 
tion shall decide whether they receive or 
reject the new constitution as submitted to 
them, which opinion shall be expressed by 
each qualified voter by depositing a ticket 
in the ballot box, upon which shall be writ¬ 
ten “the constitution accepted,” or “the 
constitution rejected;” and at the conclu¬ 
sion of the voting, which shall be held and 
conducted in every respect as is the case 
in general elections, the commissioners 
holding said elections, after having careful¬ 
ly examined every ballot deposited, shall 
make due return thereof, forthwith, to the 
governor, who shall, in the presence oi the 
secretary of state, attorney general, trea¬ 
surer, and all persons who attend, open the 
said returns, with a view of ascertaining 
whether the new constitution has been re¬ 
ceived or rejected by the qualified voters. 
The result of which examination the gov¬ 
ernor shall cause to be published in the 
State paper, showing the number of per¬ 
sons who voted in favor of receiving the 
new constitution, and also those who voted 
to reject, it. 

Resolved, that if a majority of all the vo¬ 
ters of the State voted in favor of the new 


constitution, the governor shall by procla¬ 
mation, declare the same to be the funda¬ 
mental law of the land, and with a view of 
carrying the same into operation, the gov¬ 
ernor shall issue his order to all the parish 
judges, directing them to hold, on the third 
Monday in January, 1846, elections for the 
election of a governor of the State, a lieu¬ 
tenant governor of the State, members of 
the legislature, and all other officers pro¬ 
vided under this constitution. 

- ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Sec. 34. All charters heretofore grant¬ 
ed by the legislature shall terminate on the 
first of January, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and ninety, where no earlier 
limit has been fixed in the act of incorpo¬ 
ration, and no corporate privileges hereaf¬ 
ter to be created, shall ever endure for a 
longer term than twenty-five years ; provi¬ 
ded, that this section shall not apply to po¬ 
litical and municipal corporations. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to amend 
said section by striking out the following 
words, viz: “All charters heretofore grant¬ 
ed by the legislature, snail terminate on 
the first day of January, in the year one 
thousand eight hundred and ninetp, where 
no earlier limit has been fixed in the act of 
incorporation,” and insert in lieu thereof 
the following amendment, viz: 

“From and after the month of January, 
1890, the legislature shall have the power 
to revoke the charter of all corporations 
whose charters shall not have expired pre¬ 
viously to that time.” Which amendment 
was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by inserting in the fifth line, after the 
words “corporate privileges,” the words 
“except to political and municipal corpo¬ 
rations,” which amendment was adopted. 

On motion the section as amended was 
adopted, viz : 

From and after the month of January, 
1890, the legislature shall have the power 
to revoke the charters of all corporations 
whose charters shall not have expired pre¬ 
viously to that time; and no corporate privi¬ 
leges, except to political and municipal cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created, shall ever 
endure for a longer term than twenty-five 
years. 

Mr. Eustis submitted the following, ad¬ 
ditional section, viz : 

“ Corporations shall not be created in 




246 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


this State by special laws by the legisla¬ 
ture, except for political or municipal pur¬ 
poses, but the legislature shall provide by 
general laws for the organization of all 
other corporations, except corporations with 
banking or discounting privileges, the cre¬ 
ation of which is prohibited.” 

Mr. Eustis moved for the adoption of 
said section. The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin , Bourg, Brazeaie, 
Brent , Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Eustis, Dubouchel, Garrett , Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Pugh, Read, St. Amand, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wederstrandl and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—38 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Carriere, Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar- 
cia, Guion, Labauve, Porter, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man and Winchester voted in the negative 
—13 nays ; consequently said motion was 
carried and the section adopted. 

Mr. Eustis submitted the following ad¬ 
ditional section, viz : 

After the year 1847, no corporation in 
this State shall issue notes or bills in any 
form whatever of a less denomination than 
ten dollars, after 1848 of a less denomina¬ 
tion than twenty dollars, and after 1849 of 
a less denomination than fifty dollars. 

No action shall be maintained after the 
year 1849 in any court in this State on 
any note or bill of exchange payable to 
bearer or indorsed in blank of a less deno¬ 
mination than fifty dollars; and it shall be 
the duty of the legislature to enforce the 
execution of the preceding provisions by 
such penal enactments as may be found ne¬ 
cessary. 

Mr. Chinn moved that the above sec¬ 
tions be laid on the table indefinitely. The 
yeas and nays being called for, (Mr. Clai¬ 
borne in the Chair,) 

Messrs. Axibert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeaie, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Car¬ 
riere, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McRae, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Pugh, Ratliff Roman, Splane, Ste¬ 


phens, Voorhies, Wederstrandl, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—37 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brent, Cade, Chambliss, Du¬ 
bouchel, Eustis, Garcia, Humble, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Read , Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Waddill and Wadsworth 
voted in the negative—15 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried. 

On motion of Mr. Roman the section of¬ 
fered by him on yesterday, was taken up, 
viz: 

The legislature shall not in any manner 
create any debt or debts, liability or liabili¬ 
ties, which shall singly or in the aggregate, 
with any previous debts or liabilities, exceed 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars,(ex¬ 
cept in case of war, to repel invasion, and 
suppress insurrection,) unless the same be 
authorized by some law, for some single ob¬ 
ject or work, tobe distinctly specified there¬ 
in, which law shall provide ways and means 
by taxation for the payment of running in¬ 
terest during the whole time for which said 
debt shall be contracted, and for the full 
and punctual discharge at maturity of the 
capital borrowed; and said law shall be ir- 
repealable until the principal and interest 
thereon shall be paid and fully discharged, 
and shall not be put into execution until af¬ 
ter its re-enactment by the first legislature 
returned by a general election after its 
passage. 

Mr. Brent moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinitely. The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeaie, Brent, Brumfield, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, Du¬ 
bouchel, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Le¬ 
doux, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Peets, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Splane, 
Stephens and Voorhies voted in the affirm¬ 
ative—24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Burton , Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Kenner, King, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre , Mayo, Pugh, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Trist, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder- 
strandt and Winchester voted in the neea- 

# O 

tive—26 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Waddill, said section 
was laid on the table, to be printed, ordered 
and made the special order of the day for 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 247 


Monday next—to be taken up together 
with section twenty-four. 

Mr. Chinn called up the sections offer¬ 
ed by him, in relation to duelling, viz: 

Sec. —-. Any citizen of this State, who 
shall, after the adoption of this constitution, 
fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send 
or accept a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons, either within the State or 
out of it, or who shall act as a second, or 
aid and assist in any manner those thus 
offending, shall be deprived of holding any 
office of trust or profit under this con¬ 
stitution. 

Sec. —. I, (A. B.) do solemnly swear 
(or affirm) that I will faithfully and im¬ 
partially discharge and perform all the du¬ 
ties incumbent on me as -, according 

to the best of my abilities and understand¬ 
ing, agreeably to the rules and regulations 
of the constitution and laws of the State; 
and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that since the adoption of this constitution 
I have not fought a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, within this State nor out of it, nor 
have I sent a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second 
in carrying a challenge, or aided, advised 
or assisted any person thus offending—So 
help me God. 

Mr. McRae moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by inserting after the word “profit,” 
in the last line, the words “and enjoying 
the right of suffrage;” which amendment 
was adopted. 

Mr. Lewis moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the above amendment. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert , Brumfield, Chinn, Co - 
villion, Dubouchel, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, Ledoux, Lewis, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Read , Scott of Baton Rouge, Stephens and 
Winder voted in the affirmative-—21 yeas. 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, Cade, Car- 
riere, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Garcia, Hynson, Labauve, Legendre, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Railff, 
Roman, Scott of Madison, Splane, Voorliies, 
Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winchester 
voted in the negative—29 nays; conse¬ 
quently the motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Labauve, said section 
was amended, by inserting in the sixth 


line, after the word “ second,” the word 
“ knowingly.” 

Mr. Benjamin offered the following 
amendment, to be inserted at the com¬ 
mencement of said section, viz : 

“The legislature shall have the power to 
pass laws, providing that.” 

Mr. Guion moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment of Mr. Benjamin, by striking out the 
words “have the power;” which amend¬ 
ment was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin moved for the adoption 
of the amendment offered by him. The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

M essrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brumfield , Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
Dubouchel, Guion, Kenner, Mazureau, Ro¬ 
man, Winchester and Winder voted in 
favor of said amendment—13 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia , Gar¬ 
rett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Ratliff, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Voorliies, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—35 nays ; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr, Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
by inserting in the 6th line after the word 
“knowingly the words “be present, aiding 
and assenting.” The yeas and nays being 
called for, (Mr. Garcia in the chair,) 

Messrs. Aubert, Boudousquie, Brumfield 
Conrad of Orleans, Porter, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roman, Splane and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—10 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent, Briant, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dubouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth , 
Humble, 1 Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis , McRae, Marigny, Mayo , 
Mazureau, Peels, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Mad¬ 
ison, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—37 nays; consequently said amend- 
was rejected. 

Mr. Porter moved to amend, by strik¬ 
ing out in the fifth line, the words, “out 
of it,” which motion was lost. 

Mr. Chinn moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended, viz: 




248 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Any citizen of this State who shall after 
the adoption of this constitution, fight a 
duel with deadly weapons,or semi or accept 
a challenge to fight a duel with deadly 
weapons, either within this State or out of 
it, or who shall act as a second or know- 
ingly aid and assist in any manner, those 
thus offending, shall be deprived of holding 
any office of trust or piofit, and of enjoy¬ 
ing the right of suffrage under this Consti¬ 
tution, The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Conrad, of Jefferson, Derbes, 
Dubouchel, Dunn , Garrett, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Lewis, 
McRae, Mayo , Beets, Prescott, of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Pugh, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Voor- 
hies, Waddill, Winchester and Winder x o- 
ted in the affirmative—35 yeas; and, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Cenas, Conrad of 
Orleans, Eustis, Kenner, Legendre, Mazu- 
reau, Porter, Ratliff, Roman, Splane and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative—12 
nays; consequently said motion was carried, 
and the section was adopted. 

Mr. Brent gave notice that he will on 
Monday next, move to reconsider the vote 
fixing the salary of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court. 

Mr. Garrett gave notice that he will 
on Monday next, move to reconsider the 
vote adopting the 7th section in the general 
provisions. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent at the first 
call of the house : Messrs. Beatty, Der¬ 
bes, Downs, O’Bryan, Penn, Saunders and 
Scott of Feliciana,absent on leave. Messrs. 
Porche, Sellers, Soule and Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, absent on account of illness; and 
Me ssrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Dubouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
King, Ledoux, Marigny, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Splane, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winderabsent at call. 

Note. —Members absent at the second 
call of the roll: Messrs. Beatty, Derbes, 
Downs, O’Bryan, Penn, Saunders and 
Scott of Feliciana,absent on leave. Messrs. 
Porche, Sellers, Soule, Taylor of Assump¬ 


tion absent on account of illness; and, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Cenas, 
Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef- 
erson, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Le¬ 
doux, Marigny, O’Bryan, Pugh, Ratliff, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Splane, Trist, Wads¬ 
worth, and Winchester did not answer to 
their names. 


Saturday, May 3, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment.. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

On motion, leave of absence was grant¬ 
ed to Mr. Prudhomme. 

This being the day fixed, Mr. Lewis 
moved to reconsider the vote adopting the 
section requiring that the secretary of the 
senate and the clerk of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives, should possess the French and 
English languages, and that any member 
of the general assembly may address either 
house in the French or English language. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale , Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Chinn , Dunn, Garrett , Hudspeth, Humble, 
Lewis, McRae , Mayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Ratliff, Read, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 1 As¬ 
sumption, IVaddill, Wadsworth and T Ved- 

erstrandt voted in the affirmative-28 

yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Claiborne, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Dubouchel, Dct'bes, Eustis, 
King, Ledoux , Legendre, Marigny, Mazu¬ 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Voorhies, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—20 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the section taken 
up, viz : 

“ The secretary of the senate and the 
clerk of the house of representalives, shall 
possess the French and English languages, 
and any member of the general assembly 
may address either house in the French 
or English language.” 

Mr. Brent moved for a division of the 
question, that is, to act on the section, 
paragraph by paragraph. 

Mr. Chinn moved for the previous ques¬ 
tion, which motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Guion, the previous 
question was reconsidered. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 





249 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


lay the section on the table indefinitely. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brumfield , Burton, 
Chambliss, Chinn , Dunn, Guion, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Peels, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Ratlifi', 
Read, Scott of Madison, /S plane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative— 
23 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brent, Briant, Cade, Carriers, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Dubouchel, Derbes, Eustis, Garrett , Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, King, Legendre, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman , Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Voorhies, Waddill, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the negative—29 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Waddill moved to amend said 
section by adding at the end of the same, 
the words “ or in any of the living lan¬ 
guages.” 

Mr. Derbes moved to lay the amend¬ 
ment on the table indefinitely. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin , Bourg , Bra- 
zeal e, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Carricrc, Chambliss, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Dubouchel , Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
King, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—48 yeas; and 

Messrs. McRae, Ratliff, Read and Wad- 
dill voted in the negative—4 nays; con¬ 
sequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Lewis moved for a division of the 
question, that is, to act on the section, 
paragraph by paragraph, which motion 
prevailed. 

On the motion to adopt the first para¬ 
graph, requiring “ the secretary of the 
senate and the clerk of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives to possess the French and En¬ 
glish languages,” the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert,Benjamin, Bourg, Burton, 
Cade, Carriers, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Du- 
32 


bouchel, Eustis, King, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Marigny,Mayo,Mazureau, Peets,Prescott of 
St.Landry, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Splane, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Xoorhics, Waddill, Winchester and 

Winder voted in the affirmative-32 

yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Garrett, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, Porter, Pres¬ 
ton, Ratliff, Read, Scott of Madison, Ste¬ 
phens, Wadsicorth and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—19 nays ; consequently 
said motion was carried, and the first para¬ 
graph was adopted. 

On the motion to adopt the second para¬ 
graph, requiring that “ any member of the 
general assembly may address either house 
in the French or English language,” the 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Briant s Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade , Carriers, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel, Eustis, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, King, Ledovx, Legendre , Lewis, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau , Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, 
Roselius , Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Weder¬ 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—49 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Preston, Ratliff and Read voted 
in the negative—3 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the second para¬ 
graph was adopted; and the whole section 
was adopted as follows, viz: 

The secretary of the senate and the clerk 
of the house of representatives, shall pos¬ 
sess the French and English languages, 
and any member of the general assembly 
may address either house in the French or 
English language. 

Mr. Marigny gave notice that he will 
on Tuesday next, move to reconsider the 
laying upon the table indefinitely the sec¬ 
tion offered by Mr. Eustis, in relation to 
the issuing of small notes by the banks. 

Mr. Preston submitted the following 
additional section, viz : 

“The general assembly may establish 
by law an adequate compensation in fees 
or salaries for the justices of the peace of 
the State.” 



250 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Preston moved for the adoption of 
the above section. The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, Bra- 
zeale , Briant, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Covil- 
lion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchcl, Dunn, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Beets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wederslrandt voted in the 
affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Conrad of Orleans, Eus- 
tis, Guion, King, Roman, Roselius, Taylor 
of Assumption, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—10 nays ; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried, and the 
section was adopted. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption submitted 
the following additional section, viz : 

“All judicial proceedings shall be con¬ 
ducted in the French language, against the 
citizens of the State whose mother tongue 
is French, and who do not understand and 
speak the English language.” 

Mr. Roselius moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by inserting after the word “French” 
the words “or German.” 

Mr. Chinn moved to lay the section 
and amendment on the table indefinitely. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert , Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss > Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Dunn, Du¬ 
bouchcl, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth,Humble, 
Hynson, King, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
St.Landry, Preston, Pugh,Ratliff,Read^Ro- 
man, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Splane, Waddill, Wederslrandt, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant,Comllion,Derbes, 
Guion, Ledoux, Roselius, Soule and Taylor 
of Assumption voted in the negative—9 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Mayo offered the following addi¬ 
tional section, and the same was adopted: 

“ The governor shall have power to is¬ 
sue writs of election, to supply vacancies 
that may happen in either house of the 
general assembly.” 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Second additional section offered by Mr. 
Chinn, viz : 

Sec. —. I, (A. B.) do solemnly swear 
(or affirm) that I will faithfully and im¬ 
partially discharge and perform all the du¬ 
ties incumbent on me as -according 

to the best of my abilities and understand¬ 
ing, agreeably to the rules and regulations 
of the constitution and the laws of the State; 
and I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that since the adoption of this constitu¬ 
tion I have not fought with deadly wea¬ 
pons, within this State nor out of it, nor 
have I sent a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons, nor have I acted as second 
in carrying a challenge, or aided, advised 
or assisted any person thus offending—So 
help me God. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to amend 
said section by striking out the words 
“rules and regulations of the constitution 
and laws of the State,” and insert in lieu 
thereof the following words “constitution 
and laws of the United States and of this 
State;” which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to amend 
by inserting after the words “1 sent a chal¬ 
lenge,” the words “or accepted a chal¬ 
lenge,” which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Guion moved to amend said section 
by striking out the following words, viz: 

And I do further solemnly swear (or af¬ 
firm) that since the adoption of the present 
constitution, I have not fought a duel with 
deadly weapons, within this State nor out 
of it, nor have I sent a challenge or accep¬ 
ted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly 
weapons, nor have I acted as second in 
carrying a challenge, or^aided, advised or 
assisted any person thus offending. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Guion to strike out, 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Gui¬ 
on, Legendre, Marigny, Porter, Ratliff, Ro¬ 
man, Soule, Splane, Wederstrandt and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—13 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss. Chinn, Covil- 
lion, Culbertson, DuBouchel, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, Peets, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, 
Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge 





251 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Scott of Madison, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Voorhies and Waddill voted in 
the negative—33 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Chinn then moved for the adoption 
of the section as amended, viz : 

I, (A B) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States and of this State : and I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I have not fought a duel with deadly 
weapons, within this State nor out of it, nor 
have I sent a challenge or accepted a chal¬ 
lenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, 
nor have I acted as second in carrying a 
challenge, or aided, advised or assisted any 
person thus offending—So help me God. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion to adopt the section as amended, 
Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Du- 
Bouchel, Dunn Eustis, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Preston, Pugh, Read, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Stephens, Voorhies and Waddill voted in 
the affirmative—36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Cenas, Legendre, Marigny, 
Porter, Ratliff, Roman, Soule, Splane and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative—-9 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried, and the section as amended was 
adopted. 

On motion the first section of the gen¬ 
eral provisions was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 1. Members of the general assem¬ 
bly and all officers, executive and judicial, 
before they enter upon the execution of 
their respective offices, shall take the fol¬ 
lowing oath or affirmation : I, (xY B,) do 
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith¬ 
fully and impartially discharge and perform 

all the duties incumbent on me as -, 

according to the best of my abilities and 
understanding, agreeably to the rules and 
regulations of the constitution and laws of 
this State—So help me Cob 

Mr. Chinn moved to amend said section 
by striking out the words “I, (A B) do sol¬ 


emnly swear (or affirm) that I will faith¬ 
fully and impartially discharge and per¬ 
form all the duties incumbent on me as 
-, according to the best of my abili¬ 
ties and understanding, agreeably to the 
rules and regulations of the constitution 
and laws of this State—so help me God,” 
and insert in lieu thereof the following 
words, viz: 

I, (A B) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States and of this State. 

And I do further solemnly swear (or af¬ 
firm) that since the adoption of the present 
constitution, I have not fought a duel with 
deadly weapons, within this State nor out 
of it, nor have I sent a challenge or accep¬ 
ted a challenge to fight with deadly wea¬ 
pons, nor have I acted as secoud in carry¬ 
ing a challenge, or aided, advised or as¬ 
sisted any person thus offending—So help 

me God. 

% 

On motion, said section as amended was 
adopted. 

Section twenty-ninth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 29. Every law of a general na¬ 
ture shall be equaally applicable Co all 
parts of the State. 

Mr. Mayo moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Eustis moved to amend said mo¬ 
tion by laying said section on the table 
subject to call, which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, submitted, 
on behalf of Mr. McCallop, the following 
additional section, viz: 

All contested elections for members of 
the senate and house of representatives 
and all other parish officers, shall be de¬ 
cided by the district court of the parish in 
which the contest shall have originated. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till Monday next, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent at the first 
call of the house : Messrs. Beatty, Downs, 
O’Bryan, Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Saunders and Scott of Felici- 
ana, absent on leave. Messrs. Porche, Sel¬ 
lers and Wikoff absent on account of ill¬ 
ness; and Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 










252 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


Culbertson, Derbes, Eustis,Guion,Grymes, 
Garcia, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu- 
reau, Preston, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Soule, Taylor of St. Landry, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies and 
Winchester did not answer to their names 
at the first call of the house. 

Note. —Members absent at the second 
call of the roll: Messrs. Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Genas, Chinn, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Eustis, 
Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, McCallop, Marigny, Preston, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Tristand Wadsworth. 

Monday, May 5, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos¬ 
pel the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the president, opened the proceedings 
with prayer. 

The secretary reported the receipt of the 
printers for the report of the debates of the 
19th, 21st and 22d of April. 

Mr. Carriers was excused for nonatten¬ 
dance on account of illness. 

Mr. Read submitted the following addi¬ 
tional report, viz: 

Capital punishment shall never be inflict¬ 
ed in this State. 

Which was laid on the table subject to 
call. 

Mr. Brent submitted the following re¬ 
port, viz: 

Ordered , That immediately after the ad- 
journmentof this Convention the governor 
shall issue hi. proclamation, directing the 
several officers of this State, auhtorized by 
law to hold elections for members of the 
general assembly, to open and hold an 
election tn every parish of the State, at the 
places designated by law, upon the first 
; Monday of November next, for the purpose 
of taking the sense of the good people of 
this State in regard to the adoption or re¬ 
jection of this amended constitution. And 
it shall be the duty of the said officers to 
receive the votes of all persons entitled to 
vote under the old constitution, and under 
this amended constitution. Each voter 
shall express his opinion by depositing in 
the ballot box a ticket, whereon shall be 
written “ the constitution accepted,” or 


“ the constitution rejected,” or some' such 
words as will distinctly convey the inten¬ 
tion of the voter. At the conclusion of 
said election, which shall be conducted in 
every respect as the general State election 
is now conducted, the commissioners desig¬ 
nated to preside over the same, shall care¬ 
fully examine and count each ballot so de¬ 
posited, and shall forthwith make due re¬ 
turns thereof to the secretary of State, in 
conformity to the provisions of the exist¬ 
ing law upon the subject of elections. 

Ordered , That upon the receipt of the 
said returns, it shall be the duty of the go¬ 
vernor, the secretary of State, the attorney 
general and the State treasurer, in the pres¬ 
ence of all such persons as may choose to 
attend, to compare the votes given in said 
election for the ratification and rejection of 
this amended constitution; and if it shall 
appear from said returns that a majority of 
all the votes given in said election is for 
ratifying the amended constitution, then 
it shall be the duty of the governor to make 
proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth 
this amended constitution shall beordained 
and established as the constitution of Lou¬ 
isiana. But whether the amended consti¬ 
tution be accepted or rejected, it shall be 
the duty of the governor to cause to be pub¬ 
lished in the State paper the result of the 
said election, showing the number of votes 
cast for and against the said constitution. 

Ordered , That should this amended con¬ 
stitution be accepted by the people, it shall 
also be the duty of the governor forthwith 
to issue his proclamation, declaring the 
present legislature, elected under the old 
constitution, to be dissolved, and directing 
the several officers of the State, authorised 
by law, to hold elections for members of the 
general assembly; to hold an election at the 
places designated by law, upon the third 
Monday in January next (1846), for go¬ 
vernor, lieutenant governor, members of 
the general assembly and all other officers 
whose election is provided for pursuant to 
the provisions of this amended constitution. 
And the said election shall be conducted, 
and the returns thereof made in conformity 
with the existing laws upon the subject of 
State elections. 

Ordered, That the general assembly, 
elected under this amended constitution, 
shall convene at the state house in the city 
of New Orleans, upon the second Monday 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 25:? 


of February next, after the election (1846); » 
and that the gevernor and lieutenant govern- 
or, elected at the same time, shall be duly 
installed in office during the first week of 
their session, and before it shall be compe¬ 
tent for the said general assembly to proceed 
with the transaction of business. 

The minority of the committee then 
offered the following counter report, viz: 

The undersigned, a minority of the com¬ 
mittee appointed to devise a plan by which 
the amended constitution shall be carried 
into effect, have differed from the majority 
as to the time and manner of submitting it 
to the people for their approval or rejection, 
have deemed it incumbent on them to make 
the following counter report, for which 
then respectfully solicit the consideration 
of the Convention: 

They are of opinion that there should 
be no greater delay in calling the people 
together in their several election districts, 
to decide upon the organic law which this 
Convention has framed for them, than is 
necessary for it to be published in all parts 
of the State, and to become generally 
known to the inhabitants; and as it is pro¬ 
bable that this body will adjourn on or 
about the 10th instant, the undersigned 
propose that the second Monday of July 
next should be fixed upon for its submis¬ 
sion to the electors. This would give the 
people two months’ time to examine and 
discuss it, and to compare its provisions 
with those of the old constitution, a period 
quite sufficient, to the apprehension of the 
undersigned, for it to be maturely consid¬ 
ered and fully understood. At the present 
ti.we the attention of the people is called 
to the proceedings of this Convention, and 
a lively interest is felt in the result of its 
labors. The sooner the work is submitted 
to them the greater is the probability of 
obtaining for it a full, fair and unprejudiced 
expression of the public sentiment. It is 
to be feared that the long delay proposed 
by the majority of the committee will have 
a tendency to stifle enquiry on the subject, 
and cause an apathy to be felt, which will 
defeat the object which the Convention 
has in view, to-wit: to procure the decision 
of a majority of the qualified electors, ap¬ 
proving or rejecting the amended consti¬ 
tution. 

The undersigned are also fully persuaded 
that it is contrary to good policy and sound 


principle to allow any class of persons, 
other than those who were heretofore en¬ 
titled to the elective franchise, to vote for or 
against the new constitution. It was they 
who voted for the assembling of this Con¬ 
vention; they alone are the^ constituents of 
its members, and they only have the right 
to say whether the mandate given bv them 
has been executed in such a manner as to 
meet their approbation. The proposition 
of the majority of the committee to allow, 
in addition to those who already possess 
the qualifications of voters, all who may 
have been constituted electors under the 
new constitution, to vote at the assembling 
of the people to decide upon that instru¬ 
ment, is viewed by the undersigned as 
amounting in effect, to a fraud upon the 
rights of the constituency of this Conven¬ 
tion. It is hazarding nothing to declare 
that had such a proceeding been anticipa¬ 
ted, before the people decided to call a 
Convention, a very large portion of those 
who voted for it would have refused to 
delegate a power which could be exercised 
so as to defeat their wishes, whilst they are 
mocked with a show of accountability, on 
the part of their representatives. The un¬ 
dersigned cannot perceive how it can be 
pretended that persons who are not entitled 
to vote under the existing constitution, 
should be permitted to exercise this ines¬ 
timable privilege upon an occasion like 
that in question. Those persons had no 
agency in electing the members of this 
Convention, and could not in consequence, 
instruct them as to their acts. They have 
therefore no right to decide upon that 
which has been done by those who are 
not their agents; and this Convention has 
no righful power to diminish the constitu¬ 
tional privileges of the electors of this 
State, by extending the elective franchise, 
without their consent, to persons who are 
by that means enabled to nullify their 
wishes. 

rr^The undersigned do not deem it neces¬ 
sary to say any thing further in support of 
the views they have taken of the matter 
under consideration; tney submit it to the 
wisdom and sound discretion of the Con¬ 
vention. Respectfully, 

THOS. W. CHINN, 
GEORGE S. GUION. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revision, reported the legislative article. 



*254 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


ORDER OF THE DAY. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Sec. 24. The legislature shall not have 
power or authority to pledge the faith ol 
the State, as security for the payment of 
any bonds, bills, or other contracts or obli¬ 
gations whatever, nor to borrow money for 
any purpose whateyer, except for de¬ 
fraying the expense of war, or for the 
purpose of repelling an invasion of the 
State by an armed force, or of suppres¬ 
sing an insurrection. 

Provided, That the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of its 
now outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not, the said new bonds, 
however, to bear upon their face, either in 
principal or interest, an amount less than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

The following additional section, offered 
by Mr. Roman, was taken up, viz: 

The legislature shall not in any manner 
create any debt or debts, liability or lia¬ 
bilities, which shall singly or in the aggre¬ 
gate, with all previous debts or liabilities, 
exceed the sum of one hundred thousand 
dollars, (except in case of war, to repel in¬ 
vasion or suppress insurrection) unless the 
same be authorized by some law, for some 
single object or work, to be distinctly spe¬ 
cified therein, which law shall provide 
ways and means, by taxation, for the pay¬ 
ment of running interests during the whole 
time for which said debt shall be contracted 
and for the full and punctual discharge at 
maturity, of the capital borrowed; and said 
law shall be irrepealable until the princi¬ 
pal and interest thereon shall be paid and 
fully discharged, and shall not be put into 
execution until after its re-enactment by 
the first legislature returned by a general 
election after its passage. 

Mr. Lewis offered the following as a 
substitute for the twenty-fourth section, viz: 

Sec. 24. The legislature shall not have 
power or authority to pledge the faith ot 
the State, as surety tor the payment of any 
bonds, bills, or other contracts or obliga¬ 
tions, for the benefit or use of any person 
or persons, corporation or body politic 
whatever; provided, that the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its now outstanding obligations or liabili¬ 
ties, whether due or not; the said bonds, 
however, not to be issued for a larger 


amount, or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the obligations they are intended to replace. 

Mr. Eustis moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by striking out the following provi¬ 
so, viz: 

Provided , That the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of its 
no iv outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said now bonds, 
however, not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest than 
the original obligations they are intended to 
replace. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, moved to amend 
said substitute by striking out in second 
line the words “as surety.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Debouchel, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Humble, King, Ledoux, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Preston, Pugh, Read, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and Winder 
voted fin the affirmative—33 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Briant, Burton, 
Chinn, Downs, Dunn, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of 
Baton Rouge and Winchester voted in the 
negative—18 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the words “as surety” 
were stricken out. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Eustis to strike out the 
proviso, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Cade, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Eustis, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Preston, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voor¬ 
hies, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Bourg, Briant, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel, 
Downs, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
King, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Mazureau, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, St. 
Amand, Sellers, Wadsworth, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the negative—31 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Marigny moved to amend said sec- 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 255 


tion by inserting at its commencement the 
following words, viz: 

“As the constitution of the United States 
prohibits the States from coining money or 
issuing bills of credit.” 

On motion of Mr. Wadsworth, said 
amendment was laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved for 
a division of the question, that is, to act on 
the section paragraph by paragraph; which 
motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion to adopt the first paragraph, viz: 

“The legislature shall not have power or 
authority to pledge the faith of the State for 
the payment of any bonds, bills, or other 
contracts or obligations, for the benefit or 
use of any person or persons, corporation or 
body politic watever;” resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie , Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent,Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, CenaSj Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Du- 
bouchel, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, 
Legendre, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Beets, 
Porter, Prescott of St.Landry, Pugh, Read, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor- 
hies, Waddill, Wadsworth, TVederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—53 yeas; the vote being unani¬ 
mous, the said motion was carried, and the 
first paragraph was adopted. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the second paragraph, viz: 

Provided, That the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of its 
now outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, not to be issued for a larger 
amount, or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the original obligations they are intended to 
replace,—resulted as follows, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Bourg, Brumfield, 
Burton , Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dubouchel, Dunn, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Lewis, 
McRae, Marigny, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Sellers, Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—31 yeas; and ! 


Messrs. Beatty , Brazeale, Brent, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Eustis, Humble, Hynson , 
Ledoux, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies and 
Wederetrandt voted in the negative—19 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried, and the second paragraph was 
adopted. 

On motion, the section as amended, 
was adopted, viz : 

Sec. 24. The legislature shall not have- 
power or authority to pledge the faith of 
the State for the payment of any bonds, 
bills, or other contracts or obligations, for 
the benefit or use of any person or per¬ 
sons, corporation or body politic whatever. 

Provided, That the State shall have the 
right to issue new bonds in payment of its 
now outstanding obligations or liabilities* 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, not to be issued for a larger 
amount, or at a higher rate of interest, 
than the original obligations they are in¬ 
tended to replace. 

The following additional section offered 
by Mr. Roman, was taken up. 

The legislature shall not in any manner 
create any debt or debts, liability or liabili¬ 
ties, which shall singly or in the aggregate 
with all previous debts or liabilities, exceed 
the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, 
(except in case of war, to repel invasion or 
suppress insurrection,) unless the same be 
authorized by some law, for some single 
object or work, to be distinctly specified 
therein, which law shall provide ways and 
means, by taxation, for the payment of run¬ 
ning interests during the whole time for 
which said debt shall be contracted, and 
for the full and punctual discharge at ma¬ 
turity, of the capital borrowed; and said 
law shall be irrepealable until the princi¬ 
pal and interest thereon shall be paid and 
fully discharged, and shall not be put into 
execution until after its re-enactment by 
the first legislature returned by a general 
election after its passage. 

Mr. Read moved to amend said section 
by striking out from the third line the 
words, “which shall singly or in the ag¬ 
gregate, with any previous debts or liabili- 
bilities, exceed the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars,” and to strike out from the 
eigth line, the remainder of said section, 
viz: “unless the same be authorized by 







256 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


some law, for some single object or work, 
to be distinctly specified therein, which 
law shall provide ways and means, by tax¬ 
ation, for the payment of running interests 
during the whole time for which said debt 
shall be contracted, and for the full and 
punctual discharge at maturity, of the capi¬ 
tal borrowed; and said law shall be irre- 
pealable until the principal and interest 
thereon shall be paid and fully discharged, 
and shall not be put into execution until 
after its re-enactment by the first legisla¬ 
ture returned by a general election after its 
passage. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
said motion to strike out the above words, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
B rumjield, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Dubouchel, Eustis , Humble , Hynson Le- 
doux, McRae, Marigny , Peels,Porter,Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the affirmative—26 yeas; and 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Burton, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson,I Culbertson,Derbes,Downs, 
Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Mayo, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsicorth, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative 
*—27 nays; consequently -said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, offered as 
a substitute to said section the following, 
viz : 

“No money shall be borrowed by the 
State unless for ordinary administrative 
purposes, without the assent of the people 
given at a general election.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, offered the fol¬ 
lowing amendment, to be inserted at the 
end of said substitute, viz : 

“Or unless the law authorizing the loan 
shall be passed by two successive legisla¬ 
tures, and by the same law a tax shall be 
imposed or a sinking fund established suf¬ 
ficient to pay the interest on the loan as it 
shall accrue, and the principal thereof at 
maturity; and in such case the law impos¬ 
ing the tax or creating the sinking fund, 
shall be irrepealable until the principal 
and interest of the debt shall be dis¬ 
charged.” 

Mr. Lewis moved to lay the substitute 


and amendment on the table indefinitely. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, Brumfield, Cade, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dubouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, King, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis, McRae, Mayo, Peels, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Roman, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Wads¬ 
worth, Wederstrandt, Winchester and 

Winder voted in the affirmative-47 

yeas; and 

Messrs. Cenas , Marigny, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Soule and Taylor of Assumption 
voted in the negative—5 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Roman moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the following words, 

“ the legislature shall not in any manner 
create any debt or debts, liability or lia¬ 
bilities, which shall singly or in the aggre¬ 
gate, with any previous debts or liabilities 
exceed the sum of one hundred thousand 
dollars,” and insert in lieu thereof the fol¬ 
lowing amendment, viz : 

“The aggregate amount of debts here¬ 
after contracted by the legislature, shall 
never exceed one hundred thousand dol¬ 
lars;” which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Peets moved to amend said section 
by inserting after the word “time,” in the 
thirteenth line, the words “ which term 
shall not exceed ten years;” which amend¬ 
ment was lost. 

Mr. Roman moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended; the yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, Lewis, 
McRae, Mayo, Prescott of St.Landry, Pugh, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Madison, Tay¬ 
lor of St, Landry, Voorhies, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Covillion, Dubouchel, Eustis, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Marigny, Peels, 
Porter, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of 





257 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Assumption and Waddill voted in the 
negative—22 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the section as amend¬ 
ed, was adopted, viz: 

The aggregate amount of debts hereafter 
contracted by the legislature, shall never 
exceed one hundred thousand dollars, (ex¬ 
cept in case of war, to repel invasion or 
suppress insurrection,) unless the same be 
authorized by some law, for some single 
object or work, to be distinctly specified 
therein, which law shall provide ways and 
means, by taxation, for the payment of run- 
ding interests during the whole time for 
which said debt shall be contracted, and 
for the full and punctual discharge at matu¬ 
rity, of the capital borrowed; and said law 
shall be irrepealable until the principal 
and interest thereon shall be paid and fully 
discharged, and shall not be put into exe¬ 
cution until after its re-enactment by the 
first legislature, returned by a general 
election after its passage. 

Mr. Read called up the additional sec¬ 
tion offered by him, viz: 

“Capital punishment shall never be in¬ 
dicted in this State.” 

Mr. Chinn moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinitely. The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin , Boudousquie, Bra- • 
zeale, Brent, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Hudspeth , Humble, Hynson, 
King, Legendre, Lewis, Mdrigny , Mayo, 
Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—37 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Briant, Burton, 
Chambliss, Dubouchel, Garcia, Ledoux, 
McRae, Porter, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Soule, Waddill 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative— 
16 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried. 

Agreeably to notice previously given, 
Mr. Garrett moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the seventh section of the gener¬ 
al provisions, which motion prevailed, and 
said section was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 7. All civil officers for the State at 
large shall reside within the State, and all 
district or parish officers within their sev- j 
33 


eral districts or parishes, and shall keep 
their respective offices at such places 
therein as may be required by law; and no 
person shall be elected or appointed to any 
district or parish office, who shall not have 
resided in such district or parish long 
enough before such election or appointment 
to have acquired the right of voting for 
representatives to the general assembly in 
such district or parish. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said section 
by striking out in the sixth, seventh and 
tenth lines, the words “district or,” The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Brondousquie, 
Bourg, Brvant, Cenas, Chinn, Conrad of 
Orleans, Covillion,- Culbertson, Derbes, 
DuBouchel, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, 
Ledoux, Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Roman, St. Amand, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Wederstandt, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—34 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens and Woddill 
voted in the negative—17 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried, and the 
words were stricken out. 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by inserting at the end of the same 
the following amendment, viz: 

“And no person shall be appointed or 
elected to any district office who shall not 
have resided in said district, or an adjoin¬ 
ing district, long enough before such ap¬ 
pointment or election, to have acquired 
the right of voting for representatives to 
the general assembly for the same; which 
amendment was adopted.” 

On motion, the seventh section, as amen¬ 
ded, was adopted, viz: v 

Sec. 7. All civil officers for the State 
at laro-e, shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
respective districts or parishes, and shall 
keep their respective offices at such places 
therein as may be required by law; and 
no person shall be elected or appointed to 
any parish office who shall not have resi¬ 
ded in such parish long enough before such 
election or appointment to have acquired 
the right of voting for representatives to 






‘258 


journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the general assembly in such parish; and 
no person shall be appointed or elected to 
any district office, who shall not have re¬ 
sided in such district or an adjoining dis¬ 
trict, long enough before such appointment 
or election to have acquired the right of 
voting for representatives to the general 
assembly for the same. 

Section twenty-ninth was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 29. Every law of a general nature 
shall be equally applicable to all parts of 
the State. 

Mr. Lewis offered as a substitute for 
said section the following, viz: 

“No law shall be passed enabling partic¬ 
ular individuals to make contracts which 
by the general laws they were not permit¬ 
ted to make, or removing in favor of indi¬ 
viduals, any incapacity or disability im¬ 
posed by general laws.” 

Mr. Dunn offered as a substitute for the 
substitute of Mr. Lewis, the following, 
viz: 

“The general assembly shall not pass any 
private law, unless it shall be made to ap¬ 
pear that thirty days notice of application 
to pass such law shall have been given, 
under such directions and in such manner 
as shall be provided by law.” 

Mr. Lewis moved for the adoption of 
the substitute offered by him. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Broudousquie, Brent, Cade, 
Derbes, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garrett, Hyn- 
son, Hudspeth, King, Lewis, McRae, Ma- 
rigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Ste¬ 
phens, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies and Weder- 
strandt voted in the affirmative—25 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bia- 
zeale, Bryant, Brumfield, Burton, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Downs, Dunn, Guion, Humble, 
Legendre, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers. YVaddill, Wads worth J 
Winchester and Winder voted in the neg 
ative—25 nays; the vote being equal, the 
president voted in the negative; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost, and the sub¬ 
stitute was rejected. 

Mr. Lewis moved for the adoption of 
the 29th section. The yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for 

Messrs. Brumfield, Hudspeth, Hynson, 


Lewis, McRae, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the af¬ 
firmative—14 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Broudous¬ 
quie, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Genas, Chambliss, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Covillion, Derbes, DuBou¬ 
chel, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Garcia, 
Guion, Humble, King, Legendre, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Roman, Scott of 
Madison, St. Amand, Soule, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth. Winder 
and Winchester voted in the negative—38 
nays; consequently said motion was lost, 
and the section rejected. 

Mr. Chinn offered the following addi¬ 
tional section, viz: 

Sec. -. The legislature shall have 

power, whenever the interest of the State 
may require it, to create courts of probates 
in each parish, or such other tribunals as 
may be calculated to insure a faithful pro¬ 
tection and administration of estates. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by adding to the end of the same the 
following, viz: 

“The judges of said courts shall be elect¬ 
ed by the qualified voters in each parish.” 

Mr. Garrett moved that the section 
and amendment be laid on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Broudousquie, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Conrad of 
Orleans, Cenas, Downs, Dustis, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth and Wed¬ 
erstrandt voted in the affirmative—28 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Rrent, Bryant, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, Derbes, Du¬ 
Bouchel, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, King, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazu¬ 
reau, Porter, Pugh, Roman, Soule, Taylor 
of Assumption, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative; 25 nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was carried. 

Mr. Broudousquie gave notice that he 
will on to-morrow move to reconsider the 
vote laying on the table indefinitely the 
above section. 









259 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


On motion, the following additional sec¬ 
tion, offered by Mr. Conrad of Orleans, 
was taken up, viz: 

‘‘Taxation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the State.” 

On motion, the following section, offer¬ 
ed by Garrett, and which had been laid on 
the. table subject to call, and to be taken 
up together with the above section, was 
taken up* viz: 

“All property subject to taxation in this 
State shall be taxed in proportion to its 
value, to be ascertained by law. No one 
species of property from which a tax may 
be collected, shall be taxed any higher 
than another species of property of equal 
value, subject to taxation.” 

Mr. Garrett moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by adding at the end of the same the 
following proviso, viz: 

Provided , that the legislature shall have 
power to tax merchants, hawkers, pedlers, 
privileges or incomers in such a manner as 
may from time to time be prescribed by 
law. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption offered as 
a substitute for the whole, the following, 
viz: 

“The revenue of the State, derived from 
taxation, shall be assessed equally upon 
all the property of the State, according to 
its value, to be ascertained in such manner 
as the legislature shall direct, so that the 
same shall be equal and uniform through¬ 
out the State. No one species of proper¬ 
ty shall be taxed higher than any other 
species of property of equal value.” 

Pending the discussion on said substitute 
the Convention adjourned till to-morrow 
at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent: Messrs. Beat¬ 
ty, O’Bryan, Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prudhomme, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
absent on leave; Messrs. Carriere, Porche 
and Wikoff absent on account of illness; 
and Messrs. Benjamin, Brumfield Cenas, 
Ghinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, McCallop, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Ratliff, Roselius, St. Amand, Splane, Soule, 
Trist, Wadsworth and Winchester did not 
answer to their names at the call of the 
House. 


Tuesday, May, 6, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

1 he Rev. Mr. Warren opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

1 he Secretary reported the receipt of 
the printers for the'report of the debales of 
the 22d and 23d April. 

Mr. Porter gave notice that he will, on 
to-morrow, move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the section offered by Mr. Taylor 
ot Assumption, in relation to the acquisi¬ 
tion of residence in this State. 

Mr. Winder submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

Resolved , That from and after three 
o’clock this day no new provision shall be 
offered, except by way of amendment, un¬ 
less the Convention shall give its consent 
thereto by a vote of two-thirds of the mem¬ 
bers present. 

Mr. Scott of Baton Rouge, moved to 
amend said resolution by adding at the end 
of the same the following, viz: 

And that the Convention shall adjourn 
sine die , on Saturday next at three o’clock 
p. m. Which amendment was accepted 
by Mr. Winder. 

Mr. Winder moved for the adoption of 
the resolution as amended. 

Mr. Dunn moved for a division of the 
question, that is, to take the vote on the 
first proposition, viz: 

Resolved , That from and after three o’¬ 
clock this day, no new provision shall be 
offered, except byway of amendment. 

On motion, the first proposition was 
adopted, viz: 

Unless the Convention shall give its con¬ 
sent thereto, by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members present. 

On the motion to adopt the third propo¬ 
sition, viz: 

And that the Convention shall adjourn, 
sine die , on Saturday next, at three o’clock, 

p. m. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Briant, 
Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, 
Guion, Hynson, King, Lewis, McRae, 
Mayo, Pugh, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Madison, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative—* 
24 yeas; and 






260 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Messrs. Boudousquie, Brent, Brumfield, 
Carriere, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel, 
Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, Le- 
doux, Legendre, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Preston, Read, Roman, Saunders, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—27 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost, and the latter clause 
was rejected. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , That from and after three 
o’clock this day, no new provision shall 
be offered, except by way of amendment, 
unless the Convention shall give its con¬ 
sent thereto, by a vote of two-thirds of the 
members present. 

Mr. Guion submitted the following reso¬ 
lution: 

Resolved, That after the constitution has 
passed through its second reading, it shall 
be taken, section by section, for a third 
reading; at which time no amendment 
which may be offered shall be adopted, un¬ 
less by a majority of the members elected 
to the Convention, or by a greater number 
of votes than were given for the section at 
the first reading. No debates shall take 
place, and no remarks shall be permitted, 
but such as may be strictly necessary to 
explain the object of the amendment; and 
after all the sections shall have been acted 
on, the question shall be put on the final 
passage of the constitution. 

On motion of Mr. Cade, the rules were 
dispensed with, in order to take up the 
above resolution; and the same being taken 

9 o 

up, was adopted. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, offered the 
following section, viz: 

The legislature shall devise and estab¬ 
lish a system of common schools for the 
education of all the children of the cit izens 
of the State, and shall provide at least three- 
fourths of the funds necessary for the sup¬ 
port thereof, by a tax on property. 

Mr. Trist gave notice that he would at 
twelve o’clock to-day, move to reconsider 
the vote forming one senatorial district of 
the parishes of St. James and Ascension, 
with two senators. 

Mr. Claiborne gave noti^fe that he will 
to-day at one o’clock, move to reconsider 
the vote adopting the section offered by 


Mr. Porter, making all parish officers elec¬ 
tive. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, submitted 
the following section, viz: 

At the general election, in the year —, 
and every — year thereafter, a poll shall 
be opened and taken in every election dis¬ 
trict in the State, as to the expediency of 
calling a Convention; and in the event a 
majority of all the qualified electors in the 
State shall vote in calling a Convention, 
the general assembly shall, at their next 
session, call a Convention, to consist of as 
many members as there shall be represen¬ 
tatives in the house of representatives, to 
be chosen in the same manner and propor¬ 
tion as the said representatives, at the gen- 
al election next thereafter ensuing, and to 
meet within six months after their election, 
for the purpose of re-adopting, amending or 
changing this constitution. 

A question of order being raised, viz: 

Whether the above section was not in 
direct conflict wfith the section adodopted 
in the article providing, for the mode of re¬ 
vising the constitution, and consequently 
out of order. 

Mr. Labauve in the chair, decided that 
the section was in order. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, appealed 
from the decision of the chair. 

Which decision was sustained. 

Mr. Guion moved to lay said section on 
the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dubouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
King, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Ma- 
rigny, Mazureau, Roman,Sellers, Stephens, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—32 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant,, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion Culbertson, Downs, Gar¬ 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Porter, Preston, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the negative-—27 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 




Journal of the Con vention of Louisiana. 261 


Mr. Waddill submitted the following 
section, and the same was laid on the table 
subject to call, viz: 

No person shall be imprisoned for debt, 
in any action, or on any judgment founded 
upon contract, unless in cases of fraud; nor 
shall any person be imprisoned for a mili¬ 
tia fine in time of peace. 

On motion of Mr. Ledoux, the fifth sec- 
section of the general provisions was re¬ 
considered; and the same was taken up, 
viz: 

Sec. 5. No money shall be drawn from 
the treasury but in pursuance of specific 
appropriations made by law; nor shall any 
appropriation of money for the support of 
an army, be made for a longer term than 
one year. A regular statement and ac¬ 
count of the receipts and expenditures of 
all public money shall be published annu¬ 
ally, in such manner as shall be provided 
by law. 

Mr. Ledoux moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out, commencing in the 
third line, the words “for the support of 
an army,” and insert in the fifth line the 
word “two,” instead of “one,” which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

On motion, the section as amended was 
adopted, viz: 

Sec. 5. No money shall be drawn from 
the treasury but in pursuance of specific 
appropriations made by law; nor shall any 
appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be 
published annually, in such manner as shall 
be prescribed by law. 

Agreeably to notice, Mr. Sellers moved 
to reconsider the vote adopting the eighth 
section of the legislative article, which mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

It being twelve o’clock, Mr. Trist 
moved to reconsider the vote forming one 
one senatorial district of the parishes of St. 
James and Ascension, with two senators. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, C'ade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Dubouchel, Downs, Eustis, 
Humble, Hvnson, Ledoux, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, 


W addill, Wederstrandtand Winder voted 
in the affirmative—34 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Saunders Sellers and Winchester voted in 
the negative—26 nays ; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the senatorial dis¬ 
trict composed of the parishes of St. James 
and Ascension, with one senator, was ta¬ 
ken up. 

Mr. Trijt moved to amend said district 
as follows, viz: 

“The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one senator. 

“The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district, with one senator.” 

Which amendment was adopted, and 
the section as amended was re-adopted. 

Agreeably to notice, Mr. Brent moved 
to reconsider the vote adopting the third 
section of the judiciary. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Covillion, Dunn, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Preston, Read, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens and Waddill voted in the affirmative 
—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dubouchel, Eustis, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Roman, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, Weder- 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—33 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to reconsider 
the vote adopting the section offered by 
Mr. Porter, making all parish officers not 
provided for in this constitution, elective. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brazeale, Briant, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dubouchel, Eustis, Gar- 




262 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


« 

rett, Guion, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, McCallop, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Roman, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Trist, Voorhies, Wederstrandt Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—46 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Brent, Brumfield, Covil- 
lion, Dunn, Hudspeth, Lewis, McRae, 
Preston, Read, St. Amand, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Stephens, and Wadd ill voted in the 
negative—14 nays ; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried and the section taken up,viz: 

All parish officers not otherwise provi¬ 
ded for by this constitution, shall be elect¬ 
ed by the qualified electors of the different 
parishes, in such manner as shall be pre¬ 
scribed by 1 tw. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to amend said 
section by adding at the end of the same 
the following proviso, viz: 

Provided , that the mode of appointment 
and the tenure of office of all officers in the 
parish of Orleans shall remain as hereto¬ 
fore, unless otherwise provided by the 
legislature. 

Mr. Boudousquie moved to amend said 
proviso by inserting after the word “Or¬ 
leans” the words “German coast.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, Chinn, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Hudspeth, Kenner, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Roman, St. Amand, Sellers, 
Taylor of Assumption, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—18 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Covillion, Downs, Dubouchel, 
Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Humble, Hynson, 
Labauve, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Soule Splane, 
Stephens, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Winder voted in the negative 
—44 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend said pro¬ 
viso by adding at the end of the same, the 
following amendment, viz: 


And that the register of conveyances, 
register of mortgages, and notaries public 
for the State at large, shall be appointed as 
the legislature may direct. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Briant, Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Garcia, Guion, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Saunders, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative— 
24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenes, Cham- 
bliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Co¬ 
villion, Downs, Dubouchel, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Grymes, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, Ma¬ 
rigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt, vo¬ 
ted in the negative—40 nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Jefferson, moved to 
amend said proviso, by inserting after the 
word ‘ Orleans 5 ’ the words “and parish of 
Jefferson.” The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Boudousquie, Briant, Chinn, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
i Dunn, Garcia, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Wadsworth and Winchester vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Downs, Dubouchel, Eustis, Gar- 
rettf Grymes, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Labauve, Ledoux, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Read, 
Saunders,Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Soule, 
Splane, Stephens, Voorhies, Waddill, Wed¬ 
erstrandt and Winder voted in the negative 
—45 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved for the adoption 
of the proviso. The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent., Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 









263 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn,Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Derbes, Downs, Du- 
bouchel, Eustis, Grymes, Guion, Humble, 
Hvnson, Ledoux, Legendre, McCallop, 
M arigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Roman, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth/Wed- 
erstrandt, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—46 yeas; and 

Messrs. Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Dunn,Garcia, Hudspeth, King, 
^Labauve, Lewis, McRae, Preston, St. 
Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Stephens and 
Waddill voted in the negative—15 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried, and 
the proviso adopted. 

Mr. Claiborne moved for the adoption 
of the section as amended, to wit: 

All parish officers not otherwise provi¬ 
ded for by this constitution, shall be elect¬ 
ed by the qualified electors of the differ¬ 
ent parishes in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law; provided, that the mode 
of appointment and tenure of office of all 
the officers in the parish of Orleans shall 
remain as heretofore, unless otherwise pro¬ 
vided by the legislature. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield , Burton, Cade, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss , Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Downs, Dubuchel , Eustis, Humble , 
Hynson, Ledoux, Legendre, McCallop , 
McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Pugh, 
Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Trust, Voorhies, Weder¬ 
strandt and Winchester voted in the afjir- 
mative—39 yeas, and 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie,Bourg, Bri- 
ant, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hud¬ 
speth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Lewis, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Splane, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Waddill, Wadsworth, and Win¬ 
der voted in the negative—23 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was carried and the 
section was adopted. 

Mr. Winchester gave notice that he 
will on to-morrow move to reconsider the 
vote adopting the above section. 

Agreeably to notice Mr. Marigny mov¬ 
ed to reconsider the vote removing the seat 


of government from the city of New Or¬ 
leans. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brent, Briant, Ce¬ 
nas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs , 
Dubouchel, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, King, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Roman, Scott ofMadison, Soule and Voor¬ 
hies voted in the affirmative—26 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Garcia, Gui¬ 
on, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae , Peets, Pugh, 
Read, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana,' Sellers, Stephens? 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the negative 
—36 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Waddill called up the section of¬ 
fered by him, viz: 

No person shall be imprisoned for debt, 
in any action, or any judgment founded 
upon contract, unless in cases of fraud; nor 
shall any person be imprisoned for a mi¬ 
litia fine in time of peace. 

Mr. Garrett moved to lay said sec¬ 
tion on the table indefinitely. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

M essrs. Beatty, Boudousquie, Brazeale, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cenas,Chambliss, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallop, Mayo, Peets, Pugh, JRo- 
man, Sauuders, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers , 
Stephens , Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—33 yeas; and 
Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg , Brent, Chinn , 
Claiborne, Culbertson, Derbes, Dubouchel , 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Hynson, McRae , 
Marigny, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Soule, Taylor of Assumption, Trist , 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—24 nays ; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Additional section of Mr* Conrad of 
New Orleans, viz : 




26 4 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


“Taxation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the State.” 

To which Mr. Garrett offered the fol¬ 
lowing amendment, viz : 

“All property subject to taxation in this 
•State shall be taxed in proportion to its 
value, to be ascertained by law. No one 
species of property from which a tax may 
be collected, shall be taxed higher than 
another species of property of equal value 
and subject to taxation.” 

Provided , the legislature shall have 
power to tax merchants, hawkers, pedlers, 
privleges or incomes, in such manner as 
may from time to time be prescribed by 
law. 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the following substitute, 
offered by Mr. Taylor of Assumption, viz: 

The revenue of the State derived from 
taxation shall be assessed equally upon 
all the property of the State, according to 
its value, ascertained in such manner as 
the legislature shall direct, so that the same 
shall be equal and uniform throughout the 
State. No one species of property shall 
be taxed higher than another species of 
property of equal value. 

Mr. Eustis moved to lay the amend¬ 
ment and substitute on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Porter moved for a division of the 
question, that is, to take the vote on the 
substitute; which motion prevailed. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the motion of Mr. Eustis, to lay the substi¬ 
tute on the table indefinitely, resulted as 
follows: 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covil- 
lion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dubou- 
chel, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallep, McRae, Marigny,Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, 
Roman, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Sellers, Stephens, Voorhies, Weder- 
strandt and Winder voted in the affirma* 
tive—39 yeas; and 

Messrs. Bourg, Briant, Cade, Garcia, 
King, Mazureau, Preston, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St* 
Landry, Trist, Waddill, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the negative—14 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried. 


Mr. Winder submitted the following 
resolution, viz : 

Resolved , That this Convention shall 
hold evening sessions during the remainder 
of the session, and that the secretary have 
power to employ such additional clerk or 
clerks as he may deem necessary for keep¬ 
ing up the proceedings. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent : Messrs. 
Downs, Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prud- 
homme and Scott of Feliciana absent on 
leave; Messrs. Porche, Carriere and Wi- 
koff absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Cenas, Conrad 
of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, McCallop, Marig- 
ny, Ratliff, Saunders, Roselius, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Trist and Wadsworth 
did not answer to their names at the call 
of the roll. 

Note.— ^Members absent at the call of 
the house: Messrs, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Grymes, Ledoux, Peets, Ratliff, Roselius 
and Wadsworth did not answer to their 
names. 


Wednesday, May 7, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Winder having voted in the ma¬ 
jority, gave notice, that he will on to-mor¬ 
row move to re-consider the vote forming 
one senatorial district of the city of New 
Orleans. 

Mr. Voorhies was excused for non- 
attendance on account of illness in his 
family. 

On motion of Mr. Winchester the tak¬ 
ing of the vote on the motion to reconsider 
the vote adopting the section making all 
parish officers not otherwise provided for 
by this constitution, elective, was postpon¬ 
ed until 12 o’clock this day. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion the taking of the vote on the motion to 
reconsider the vote adopting the proviso 
excepting New Orleans from the section 
making all parish officers elective, was 
postponed until 12 o’clock this day. 

Mr. Roman was excused from serving 
on the committee of enrollment and the 





265 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


President appointed Mr. Boudousquie in 
his stead. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Additional section of Mr. Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, viz: 

Taxation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the State. 

Mr. Garrett’s amendment to the above, 
viz: 

“All property subject to taxation in this 
State shall be taxed in proportion to its 
value, to be ascertained by law. No one 
species of property from which a tax may 
be collected, shall be taxed higher than 
another species of property of equal value 
and subject to taxation: Provided , that the 
legislature shall have the power to tax mer¬ 
chants, hawkers, pedlers, privileges or in¬ 
comes in such manner as may from time 
to time be prescribed by law.” 

The question under consideration at the 
adjournment, was the motion of Mr. Eustis 
to lay the amendments on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

Mr. Garrett moved for a division of 
the question, that is, to act on each amend¬ 
ment separately. 

Mr. Eustis then moved that the proviso 
be laid on the table indefinitely, viz: 

Provided, the legislature shall have 
power to tax merchants, hawkers, pedlers, 
privleges or incomes, in such manner as 
may from time to time be prescribed by 
law. Which motion was lost. 

Mr. Eustis then moved that the amend¬ 
ment be laid on the table indefinitely, viz: 

“All property subject to taxation in this 
State shall be taxed in proportion to its 
value, to be ascertained by law. No one 
species of property, from which a tax r^py 
be collected, shall be taxed higher than an¬ 
other species of property of equal value 
and subject to taxation.” Which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment by striking out in the first line the 
words “subject to taxation,” and insert in 
their stead the words “on which taxes shall 
be levied,” and in the last line strike out 
the words “subject to taxation” and insert 
the words “on which taxes shall be levied.” 
Which amendments were adopted. 

Mr. Labauve moved to amend said 
amendment by inserting in the third line 
after the word “ascertained” the words “as 
34 


directed;” which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Waddill moved to amend Mr. 
Conrad’s section by adding after the word 
“State” the words “on all moveable and 
immoveable property;” which amendment 
was lost. 

Mr. Benjamin offered as a substitute 
for the amendment of Mr. Garrett, the fol¬ 
lowing, viz: 

“All property on which taxes shall be 
levied in this State, shall be taxed in pro¬ 
portion to its value, to be ascertained as 
directed by law. No one species of pro¬ 
perty from which a tax may be collected 
shall be taxed higher than another species 
of property of equal value on which taxes 
shall be levied.” 

Mr. Winchester moved to amend said 
substitute by adding at the commencement 
of the same the words “after the year 1848;” 
which amendment was accepted by Mr. 
Benjamin and adopted. 

Mr. Benjamin moved for the adoption of 
the substitute as amended, viz: 

“After the year 1848, all property on 
which taxes shall be levied in this State, 
shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to 
be ascertained as directed by law. No 
one species of property from which a tax 
may be collected, shall be taxed higher 
than any other species of property of equal 
value on which taxes shall be levied.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Du Bouchel, Dunn, Garrett, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, 
King, Lewis, McRae, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, 
Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Wi- 
koff voted in the affirmative—36 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Benja¬ 
min, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Derbes, Downs, Eustis, Guion, Labauve, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Sellers, Wadsworth, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the negative—24 
nays ; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. Benjamin offered as a substitute to 
the proviso, the following, viz: 

“ Provided , that the legislature shall 
have power to levy an income tax, and to 




206 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


tax all persons pursuing any occupation, 
trade or profession.” 

On motion said substitute was adopted. 

Mr. Garrett moved for the adoption 
of the section as amended. The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, DuBouchel, Garrett, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Lewis, Mc¬ 
Rae, Peets, Porler, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Scott of Feliciana, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Yoorhies, Waddill, Wederstiandt and Wi- 
koff, voted in the affirmative; 40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Ce- 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Derbes, Downs, 
Eustis, G'rymes, Guion, Labauve, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Mayo, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Sellers, Wadsworth, Winches, 
ter and Winder voted in the negative—23 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried, and the section as amended was adop¬ 
ted, viz: 

“ Taxation shall be equal and uniform 
throughout the State. After the year 1848 
all property on which taxes shall be lev¬ 
ied in this State, shall be taxed in propor¬ 
tion to its value, to be ascertained as direc¬ 
ted by law. No one species of property 
from which a tax may be collected, shall 
be taxed higher than another species of 
property of equal value, on which taxes 
shall be levied. Providid, that the legis¬ 
lature shall have power to levy an income 
tax, and to tax all persons pursuing any 
occupation, trade or profession.” 

It being the hour of twelve o’clock, Mr. 
Winchester moved to reconsider the vote 
adopting the section making all parish of¬ 
ficers elective. The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Briant, 
Carriere, Chinn, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, 
Lewis, Preston, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Waddill, Wikoff, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative— 
28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 


Claiborne, Covillion, DuBouchel, Eustis, 
Grymes, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo,Mazureau, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Read, Roselius, Scott ol Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stepens, Trist, Voorhies 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative— 
35 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

This being the hour fixed, Mr. Taylor 
of Assumption moved to reconsider the 
vote adopting the proviso which excepts 
New Orleans from the provisions of the 
section making all parish officers elective. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert Briant, Chinn, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, Pres¬ 
ton, Pugh, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill, Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—26 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Carriere, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Du¬ 
Bouchel, Downs, Eustis, Grymes, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, Marig¬ 
ny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, 
Roman, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Trist, 
Voorhies and Wederstrandt voted in the 
negative—37 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Ledoux the following 
section was taken up, viz: 

“ There shall be appointed by the gov¬ 
ernor, with the advice and consent of the 
seiffiite, an auditor ' , whose duty 

it shall be to examine and approve all ac¬ 
counts before they are paid by the treasu¬ 
rer. He shall assist the legislature in ex¬ 
amining the accounts of the treasurer, and 
perform all other duties which may be re¬ 
quired of him by law.” 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, said sec¬ 
tion was laid on the table indefinitely. 

Agreeably to notice, Mr. Sellers moved 
to reconsider the sixth section of the legis¬ 
lative article. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, 
Briant, Brumfield, Chambliss, Downs, 







267 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Dunn, Guion, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
McCallop, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Pugh, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers,"Taylor of St. Landry, Waddill, Wikoff 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative— 
25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Burton, Cade, Car- 
riere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, DuBouchel, Eustis, 
Garrett, Grymes, Hudspeth, Humble, La- 
bauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Stephens, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Voorhies, Wadsworth and Weder- 
strandt voted in the negative—37 nays ; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

The rules being dispensed with, Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption moved to reconsid¬ 
er the twenty-third section of the legisla¬ 
tive article. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Brent, Briant, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Guion, McRae, Porter, 
Preston, Roman, Taylor of Assumption, 
Waddill, Wadsworth and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative—18 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brazeale, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas,Cham¬ 
bliss, Conrad of Orleans, DuBouchel,Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett, Grymes, Hudspeth, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Marig¬ 
ny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in 
the negative—45 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

First congressional district: 

From the parish of Plaquemines, 
take one member, 1 

From the third municipality of New 
Orleans, 1 

From the first municipality of New 

Orleans, 1—3 

Second congressional district: 

From the second municipality of 
New Orleans, take 2 

From the parish of Jefferson, 1 

“ “ Assumption, 1 


From the parish of Lafourche Interior, 1—5 
Third congressional district: 

From the parish of Iberville, take 1 

“ “ East Baton Rouge, I 

“ “ East Feliciana, 1 

“ “ West Feliciana, 1—4 

Fourth congressional district: 

From the parish of St. Martin, take 1 
“ “ St. Mary, 1 

“ “ Lafayette,1 1 

“ “ St. Landry, 1 

“ “ Avoyelles, 1 

“ “ Rapides, I 

u “ Natchitoches, " I 

“ Catahoula and ) , 
Claiborne, ( 


Total, 20 

From 98 deduct 20—78 members of the 
house of representatives. 

Mr. Conrad moved for the adoption. 
The yeas and nays being called for, 

M essrs. Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Preston, Saunders, 
Sellers, Waddill and Winchester voted in 
the affirmative—13 yeas ; and 
.Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin,Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Covil¬ 
lion, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Me- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Stephens, Taylor of As¬ 
sumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist,Voor- 
hies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Wikoff and 
Winder voted in the negative—52 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the report of 
the committee on the bill df rights, was 
taken up, viz : 

The committee appointed to report a bill 
of rights, beg leave to represent, that they 
have had the same under consideration, and 
believing as they do, that in all republican 
governments, and especially in the organic 
laws thereof, that a frequent recurrence to 
first principles is both necessary and pro¬ 
per, we therefore respectfully recommend 
and submit to your consideration, the fol¬ 
lowing bill of rights, to wit: 

That the great and essential principles 








268 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


of liberty and free government may be re¬ 
cognized and unalterably established, we, 
the representatives of the people of the 
State of Louisiana, declare— 

Sec. 1 . That all freemen, when they 
form asocial compact, are equal, and have 
certain inherent and indefeasible rights, 
among which are those of enjoying and 
defending life and liberty, of acquiring, 
possessing and protecting property and 
reputation, and of pursuing and obtaining 
safety and happiness. 

Sec. 2. All political power is inherent 
in the people; all free governments are 
founded on their authority, and instituted 
for their peace, safety and happiness, pub¬ 
lic officers are their trustees and servants, 
and at all times amenable to them; of all 
forms of government that is best which is 
capable of producing the greatest degree of 
happiness and safety to the greatest num¬ 
ber of persons, and is most effectually se¬ 
cured against the dangers of mal-adminis- 
tration, and when any form of government 
shall be found inadequate, or contrary to 
those purposes, a majority of the commu¬ 
nity have an unalienable and indefeasible 
right to reform, alter or abolish their form 
of government in such manner as they 
may think most conducive to the public 
weal. 

Sec. 3. That all men have a natural 
and indefeasible right to worship Almighty 
God according to the dictates of their own 
conscience; that no man can of right be 
compelled to attend, erect or support auy 
place of worship, or to maintain any min¬ 
ister or priest, against his consent; that no 
human authority can, in any case whatever, 
control or interfere with the rights of con¬ 
science; and that no preference shall ever 
be given, by law, to any religious estab¬ 
lishment, or mode of worship. 

Sec. 4. That no religious test shall ever 
be required as a qualification to any office 
or public trust under this Slate. 

Sec. 5. That elections shall be free and 
equal. 

Sec. 6. That the right of trial by jury 
shall remain inviolate. 

Sec. 7. That the people shall be secure 
in their persons, houses, papers and pos¬ 
sessions from unreasonable searches and 
seizures, and that general warrants where¬ 
by an officer may be commanded to search 


fault committed, or to seize any person or 
persons not named, whose offences are not 
particularly described and supported by 
evidence, are dangerous to liberty, and 
ought not to be granted. 

Sec. 8. That no free man shall be taken 
or imprisoned, or deseized of his freehold, 
liberties or privileges, or outlawed or ex¬ 
iled, or in any manner destroyed or de¬ 
prived of his life, liberty or property, but 
in pursuance of the judgment of his peers, 
or the law of the land. 

Sec. 9. That no person shall, for the 
same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of 
life or liberty. 

Sec. 10. That excessive bail shall not 
be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
no cruel and unusual punishments in¬ 
flicted. 

Sec. 11. That all courts shall be open; 
and every man for an injury done him, in 
his lands, goods, person or reputation, 
shall have remedy by due course of law, 
and right and justice administered without 
sale, denial or delay. [Suits may be brought 
against the State in such manner and in 
such courts as the legislature may by law 
direct. 

Sec. 12. That the person of a debtor, 
when there is not strong presumption of 
fraud, shall not be confined in prison after 
the delivery up of his estate for the benefit 
offhis creditor or creditors, in such manner 
as shall be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 13. That the printing press shall 
be free to every person who undertakes to 
examine the proceedings of the legislature, 
or of any branch or officers of the govern¬ 
ment; and no law shall ever be made to 
restrain the right thereof. The free com¬ 
munication of thoughts and opinions is 
one of the invaluable rights of man, and 
every citizen may freely speak and write 
and print on any subject, being responsible 
for the abuse of that liberty. Butin prose¬ 
cuting for the publication of papers inves¬ 
tigating the official conduct of officers or 
men in public capacity, the truth thereof 
may be given in evidence; and in all in¬ 
dictments or prosecutions for libels, the 
jury shall have a right to determine the 
law and the facts under the direction of the 
court, as in other criminal cases. 


Sec. 14. That no retrospective law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
suspected places without evidence of the shall be made. 








269 


Journal o f the Convention of Louisiana . 


Sec. 15. That no man’s particular 
vices shall be demanded, or property taken 
or applied to public use, without the con- 
sent of his representative, or without just 
compensation being made therefor. 

Sec. 16. That perpetuities and monopo¬ 
lies are contrary to the genius of a free 
State, and shall not be allowed. 

Sec. 17. That the citizens have a right 
in a peaceable manner to assemble together 
for the common good, to instruct their re. 
preservatives, and to apply to those invested 
with the powers of government for redress 
of grievances or other proper purposes, by 
address or remonstrance. 

Sec. 18. That the sure and certain de¬ 
fence of a free people is a well regulated 
militia, and as standing armies in time of 
peace are dangerous to freedom, they 
ought to be avoided as far as the circum¬ 
stances and safety of the community will 
admit; and that in all cases, the military 
shall be kept in strict subordination to the 
civil authority. 

Sec. 19. That the free white men of this 
State have a right to keep and bear arms 
in defence of themselves and the State. 

Sec. 20. That an equal participation of 
the navigation of the Mississippi river is 
one of the inherent rights of the citizens 
of this State; it cannot therefore be con¬ 
ceded to any prince, potentate, power, 
person or persons whatever. 

Sec. 21. That no hereditary emolu¬ 
ments, privileges or honors shall ever be 
granted or conferred in this State. 

Sec. 22. That the legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over all territory 
claimed at this time by the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, or which may hereafter be ascer¬ 
tained to be within her limits, or over any 
territory acquired by compact with any 
State, or with the United States, the 
same being done by consent of the United 
States. 

Mr. Beatty moved that said report be 
laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Beatty moved for the previous 
question; the yeas and nays being called 
for, shall the main question be now put, 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Bourg, Bra - 
zeale, Burton , Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Derbes, Downs, Garrett, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Humble, Hynson, Kenner, King, 


Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, Me - 
Callop, Mayo, Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, 
St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wikoff, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative-— 
41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brumfield, Cenas, Claiborne, 
Culbertson, DuBouchel, Dunn, Garcia, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Rose- 
lius, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Taylor of Assumption and Waddill voted 
in the negative—20 nays; consequently 
said motion was carried. 

The yeas and nays being called for, on 
the motion to lay said report on the table 
indefinitely, resulted as follows: 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Burton, 
Carriere , Chambliss, Conrad of Orleans, 
G onrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Downs, Eustis, 
Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth , Kenner, 
King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, 
Mayo, Pugli, Roman, St. Amand, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wikoff, Winchester and 

Winder voted in the affirmative-35 

yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Cenas, 
Claiborne, Covillion, Culbertson, DuBou¬ 
chel, Dunn, Humble, Hynson, MeCallop, 
McRae, Marigny, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Read, Rose - 
lius, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Trist 
and Waddill voted in the negative—24 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 

On motion, the preamble of the consti¬ 
tution was taken up, viz : 

“We, the people of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana, by our representatives in Convention 
assembled, in order to secure to the citi¬ 
zens thereof the enjoyments of the rights of 
life, liberty and property, and of pursuing 
happiness, do order and establish the fol¬ 
lowing constitution and civil form of gov¬ 
ernment.” 

Mr. Eustis moved to lay the same on 
the table indefinitely, which motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption offered as a 
substitute for the preamble, the following, 
viz : 

“We, the people of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana, do ordain and establish the following 




270 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


constitution, for the government of our¬ 
selves and our posterity.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute, by striking out the words “and our 
posterity;” which motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Porter, said substi¬ 
tute was laid on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Downs offered the following substi¬ 
tute, and the same was adopted, viz : 
PREAMBLE. 

“We, the people of the State of Louisi¬ 
ana, do ordain and establish the following 
Constitution.” 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the report of 
the committee on education was taken up, 
viz : 

Sec. 1. The governor shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent of 
the senate, appoint a superintendent of edu¬ 
cation, who shall hold his office for two 
years; whose duties shall be prescribed 
by law, and who shall receive such com¬ 
pensation as the legislature may direct. 

Sec. 2. The legislature shall encourage 
the institution of common schools through¬ 
out the State, for the promotion of litera¬ 
ture and the arts and sciences, and shall 
provide means for that purpose and for their 
support. 

Sec. 3. The proceeds of all lands that 
have been or hereafter may be granted by 
the United States to this State for the use 
or support of schools, and of all lands that 
have been or may hereafter be granted by 
the United States, or by any person or 
persons, body politic or corporate, to this 
State, and not granted expressly for any 
other purpose, which shall hereafter be 
sold or disposed of, and all estates of de¬ 
ceased persons to which the State may be 
or hereafter become entitled by law, shall 
be held by the State as a loan; and shall 
be and remain a perpetual fund, on which 
the State shall pay an annual interest of 
per cent. ; which interest 

together with all the rents of the unsold 
lands, shall be inviolably appropriated to 
the supoort of such schools and institutions 
of learning throughout the State, until the 
rents or interest, or both together, shall 
amount to the sum of per annum; 

after which, the annual excess of such 
rents and interest may be applied by the 
legislature to other objects. 

Sec. 4. The fund arising from the rents 
or sales which may hereafter be made, of 


any lands heretofore granted by the United 
States to this State, for the use of a semi¬ 
nary of learning, and of any land that may 
hereafter be granted for that purpose, and 
any interest that may accrue upon such 
funds, shall be inviolably applied to the 
use specified, or that may be specified in 
the grant. 

And your committee recommend the 
adoption of the following resolution: 

Resolved , That our representatives and 
senators in congress be requested to use 
their best efforts to procure the passage of 
a law granting to this State, the unsold 
lands within this State belonging to the 
United States, or as large a portion thereof 
as possible, for the purpose of education; 
and to co-operate, if necessary, to effect 
that object with the representatives and 
senators in congress from other States. 

Mr. Eustis, of the committee on educa¬ 
tion, submitted the following, viz: 

An university shall be established in the 
city of New Orleans. It shall be compo¬ 
sed of four faculties, to wit: One of law, 
one of medicine, one of the natural sci¬ 
ences, and one of letters. 

It shall be called the University of Louis¬ 
iana; and the Medical College of Louisi¬ 
ana, as at present organized, shall consti¬ 
tute the faculty of medicine. 

-The legislature shall provide by law 
for its further organization and govern¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Kenner offered as a substitute for 
the second section the following, viz: 

“ The legislature shall establish through¬ 
out the State a system of free schools, for 
the education of all the children of the 
people of the State, and shall provide the 
means for that purpose, and for their sup¬ 
port.” 

Mr. Lewis offered as a substitute for the 
whole, the following, viz: 

“ Sec. — The legislature shall establish 
free schools throughout the State, and shall 
provide means for their support. The 
proceeds of all lands that have been, or 
hereafter may be granted by the United 
States to this State for the use or support 
of schools, and of all lands that may here¬ 
after be granted by the United States, or 
by any person or persons, body politic 
or corporate, to this State, and not granted 
expressly for any other purpose, which 
shall hereafter be sold or disposed of, and 




271 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


all estates of deceased persons to which 
the State may be or hereafter become en¬ 
titled by law, shall be held by the State as 
a loan; and shall be and remain a perpet¬ 
ual fund, on which the State shall pay an 
annual interest of per cent. ; which 
interest, together with all the rents of the 
unsold lands, shall be inviolably appropri¬ 
ated to the support of such schools. 

Sec. — The fund arising from the rents 
or sales which have been, or may hereafter 
be made, of any lands heretofore granted 
by the United States to this State, for the 
use of a seminary of learning, and of any 
land that may hereafter be granted for that 
purpose, and any interest that may accrue 
upon such funds, shall be inviolably appli¬ 
ed to the use specified, or that may be 
specified in the grant. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend said sub¬ 
stitute by inserting in the second line after 
“free,” the word “public,” which amend¬ 
ment was adopted. 

Mr. Garcia gave notice that he will on 
Friday next move to reconsider the vote 
adopting the section on duelling in this 
State. 

Mr. Preston then moved to lay the re¬ 
port on education and all the amendments 
on the table indefinitely. The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Guion, Hudspeth, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, Preston, Pugh and Waddill voted in 
the affirmative—II yeas; and 
Messrs. Beatty, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, King, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St.Landry, Read, Roman, 
Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Stephens, 
Tavlor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Wederstrandt, Wikoflf, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the negative—32 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Kenner the first 
section of said report was laid on the table 
indefinitely, viz: 

Sec. 1 . The governor shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent 
of the senate, appoint a superintendent of 
education, who shall hold his office for 
two years, whose duties shall be prescribed 
by law, and who shall receive such com¬ 
pensation as the legislature may direct. 


Mr. Dunn gave notice that he will move 
to reconsider the vote laying said section 
on the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Kenner accepted the substitute of 
Mr. Lewis, and moved its adoption. 

Pending the discussion on said motion, 
the Convention adjourned until to-morrow 
at nine o’clock, a. m. 

Note. Members absent: Messrs. O’¬ 
Bryan, Penn, Prescott of St. Landry and 
Prudhomme absent on leave; Mr. Porche 
absent on account of illness, and Messrs; 
Benjamin, Broudousquie, Cade, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Downs, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, King, La- 
bauve, Ledoux, Marigny, Mazureau, Pres¬ 
ton, Pugh, Ratliff, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Trist, Wadsworth, Wikoff and Winches¬ 
ter did not answer to their names at the 
call of the House. 


Thursday, May 8, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Goodrich opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

The President submitted a letter of in¬ 
vitation from the president of the executive 
committee of the agricultural and mechan¬ 
ic association of the State of Louisiana, 
to attend at the annual fair which is to take 
place at the town of Baton Rouge, on the 
12th inst. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn said invitation 
was accepted. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revision, submitted the following report, 
viz: 

“ The committee of revision report to 
the Convention that they consider it advi¬ 
sable to defer a further revision of the ar¬ 
ticles of the constitution until the unfinish¬ 
ed business be transacted, and all the arti¬ 
cles of the constitution be adopted at the 
first reading.” 

(Signed) 

GEO. EUSTIS, Chairman. 

On motion of Mr. Chinn said report 
was laid on the table, subject to call. 

Mr. Winder withdrew the notice he 
had given to move for the reconsideration 
of the vote forming one senatorial district 
of the city of New Orleans. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assurap- 




272 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


lion the rules were dispensed with, in or¬ 
der that all motions for reconsideration be 
taken up to-day at twelve o’clock, m. 

Mr. Waddill offered the following reso¬ 
lution, and the rules being dispensed with, 
the same was adopted—viz: 

“ No new motion for reconsideration 
shall be allowed after twelve o’clock, m. 
this day, unless by a concurrence of three- 
fourths of all the members of this Conven¬ 
tion.” 

Mr. Humble gave notice that he will 
move to reconsider the vote adopting the 
section removing the seat of government 
from the city of New Orleans. 

Mr. Porter moved that the rules be 
dispensed with in order to call up the 27th 
section of the bill of rights; which motion 
was lost. 

ORDER OF THE DAY. 

Substitute of Mr. Lewis on education; 
viz: 

Sec. 1. The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means for their support. 

Sec. 2. The proceeds of all lands that 
have been or hereafter may be granted by 
the United States to this State for the use 
or support of schools, and of all lands that 
may hereafter be granted by the United 
States, or by any person or persons, body 
politic or corporate, to this State, and not 
granted expressly for any other purpose, 
which shall hereafter be sold or disposed 
of, and all estates of deceased persons to 
which the State may be or hereafter be¬ 
come entitled by law, shall be held by the 
State as a loan; and shall be and remain a 
perpetual fund, on which the State shall 
pay an annual interest of per cent. ; 
which interest, together with all the rents 
of the unsold lands, shall be inviolably 
appropriated to the support of such schools. 

Sec. 3. The fund arising from the rents 
or sales which may hereafter be made, of 
any lands heretofore granted by the United 
States to this State, for the use of a semi¬ 
nary of learning, and of any land that may 
hereafter be granted for that purpose, and 
any interest that may accrue upon such 
funds, shall be inviolably applied to the 
use specified, or that may be specified in 
the grant. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
amend the first section, by adding at the 
end of the same the words “by taxation 


on property, or otherwise;” which amend¬ 
ment was adopted. 

On motion the first section, as amended, 
was adopted, viz: 

Sec. 1 . The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means for their support, 
by taxation on property or otherwise. 

On motion the second section was taken 
up, viz: 

Sec. 2. The proceeds of all lands that 
have been or hereafter may be granted by 
the United States to this State, for the use 
or support of schools, and of all lands that 
may hereafter be granted by the United 
States, or by any person or persons, body 
politic or corporate, to this State, and not 
granted expressly for any other purpose, 
which shall hereafter be sold or disposed 
of, and all estates of deceased persons to 
which the State may be or hereafter be¬ 
come entitled by law, shall be held by the 
State as a loan; and shall be and remain 
a perpetual fund, on which the State shall 
pay an annual interest of per cent. ; 
which interest, together with all the rents 
of the unsold lands, shall be inviolably 
appropriated to the support of such schools. 

Mr. Mayo moved to fill the blank in said 
section with “ eight,” which motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to fill the blank with 
“ seven,” and the yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Cade, Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Claiborne, Downs, Dunn, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Mayo, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Roman, Saunders, Splane, Taylor 
of Assumption, Trist, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Winchester voted in the affirmative—* 
21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Chinn, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, DuBouchel, Eustis, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Peets, Preston, Pugh, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wi- 
koff and Winchester voted in the negative 
—38 nays; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

On motion of Mr. Mayo, the blank was 
filled with “six*” 




273 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
said section by striking out the following 
words, viz: “and not granted expressly for 
any other purpose which shall hereafter bo 
sold or disposed of, and all estates of de¬ 
ceased persons to which the State may be 
or hereafter become entitled by law.” 

Mr. Kenner moved to lay said amend¬ 
ment on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bra- 
zeale, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Derbes, Dunn, DuBou- 
chel, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the affirmative—48 yeas; and 
Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Downs, Guion, Pugh, St. Amand, 
Sellers and Wikoff voted in the negative— 
12 nays; consequently said motion was 
carried. 

Mr. Mayo moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Cenas, Chambliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Co¬ 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, DuBouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, Me- 
Callop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Read, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Felici¬ 
ana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—53 yeas; and 
Messrs. Briant, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Downs, Guion, King, La¬ 
bauve, Preston and Wikoff’ voted in the 
negative—9 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the section as 
amended was adopted. 

Section — was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 4, The fund arising from the rents 
35 


or sales which may hereafter be made, of 
any lands heretofore granted by the United 
States to this State, for the use of a semi¬ 
nary of learning, and of any land that may 
hereafter be granted for that purpose, and 
any interest that may accrue upon such 
funds, shall be inviolably applied to the 
use specified, or that may be specified in 
the grant. 

Mr. Mayo offered as a substitute for 
said section, the following, and the same 
was adopted. 

“ All moneys arising from the sales 
which have been or may hereafter bo 
made, of any lands heretofore granted by 
the United States to this State for the use 
of a seminary of learning, and from any 
kind of donation that may hereafter be 
made for that purpose, shall be and remain 
a perpetual fund; the interest of which at 
six per cent, per annum, shall be inviola¬ 
bly appropriated to the support of a semi¬ 
nary of learning for the promotion of lite¬ 
rature, and the arts and sciences; and no 
law shall ever be made authorizing said 
fund to be divested to any other use than 
to the establishment and improvement of 
said seminary of learning.” 

Mr. Eustis called up the project offered 
by him, viz : 

An university shall be established in the 
city of New Orleans. It shall be compo¬ 
sed of four faculties, to wit: One of law, 
one of medicine, one of the natural sci¬ 
ences, and one of letters. 

It shall be called the University of Louis¬ 
iana; and the Medical College of Louisi¬ 
ana, as at present organized, shall consti¬ 
tute the faculty of medicine. 

The legislature shall provide by law 
for its further organization and govern¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Chinn moved to lay the above on 
the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Chinn, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Covillion, Downs, Hudspeth, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner , Lewis, McCallop, Mediae , 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston , 
Read, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the affirmative 
—20 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty , Benjamin, Bourg, Bra- 
zeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, 
Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Du- 






274 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana• 


Bouchel , Dunn, Eustls, Garrett, Guion, 
Humble, King, Labaitve, Legendre, Ma¬ 
rigny, 3Iayo, Mazureau, Peets, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Soule, Splane, Taylor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wederslrandt and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—43 nays ; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo offered the following addi¬ 
tional proviso, and the same was accepted 
by Mr. Eustis, viz : 

“ Provided, that the legislature shall be 
under no obligation to contribute to the 
establishment or support of said Univer¬ 
sity, by appropriations.” 

Mr. Winder moved to amend said pro¬ 
viso, by striking out the words “be under 
no obligation,” and insert in lieu thereof 
the words “not have power.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Brumfield, Carriers, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, Lewis, 31c Callop,Read, 
Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Wikoff and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—15 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, Brent, 
Briant, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn , Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Du- 
Bouchel, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, 
Humble, Kenner , King, Labauve, Legendre 
McRae, Marigny, 3Iayo, 31azureau, Peels, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, 
Soule, Splane, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth, Wederslrandt and Winchester 
voted in the negative—4 6 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Mayo moved for the adoption of the 
project as amended, viz : 

An university shall be established in the 
city of New Orleans; it sha.l be composed 
of four faculties, to wit: one of law, one of 
medicine, one of the natural sciences, and 
one of letters. 

It shall be called the University of 
Louisiana; and the xMedical College of 
Louisiana as at present organized, shall 
constitute the faculty of medicine. 

The legislature shall provide by law, for 
its further organization and government. 

Prodded, That the legislature shall be 
under no obligation to contribute to the 


establishment or support of said Univer¬ 
sity, by appropriations. 

Which motion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Dunn, the vote re¬ 
jecting the lirst section of the report of the 
committee on education, was re-consider¬ 
ed, and the same was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 1. The governor shall nominate, 
and by and with the advice and consent of 
the senate, appoint a superintendent of edu¬ 
cation, who shall hold his office for two 
years; whose duties shall be prescribed 
by law, and who shall receive such com¬ 
pensation as the legislature may direct. 

Mr. Dunn moved for the adoption of 
said section. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brent, Briant , 
Brumfield, Burton, Carriere,Cenas, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Du Bouchel , 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, 
Alayo, Mazureau, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Taytor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Wadsicorth, 
Wederslrandt, Winchester and Winder vo¬ 
ted in the affirmative—47 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Cade, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Guion, Kenner, Labauve, Me- 
Callop, Peets, Preston, Soule, Stephens, 
Trist, Waddill and Wikoff voted in the 
negative—15 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the section was 
adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Splane, the vote 
adopting the fifth section of the judiciary, 
was re-considered, and the same was 
taken up, viz : 

Sec. 5. The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in the city of New Orleans, 
from the first Monday of the month of No¬ 
vember, to the end of the month of June, 
inclusive. The legislature shall have the 
power to fix the sessions elsewhere during 
the rest of the year. Until otherwise pro¬ 
vided for, the sessions shall be held as 
heretofore. 

Appeals from the parishes of Jackson, 
Union, Morehouse, Caldwell, Ouachita, 
Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas and 
Concordia shall, until otherwise provided,, 
be returnable to New Orleans. 

Mr. Splane moved to amend said sec- 


v 



275 


Journal of the Convention of jLouisiana. 


tion by inserting, at the end of the proviso, 
the words “and the parish of St. Mary:” 
which amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Cade moved to amend said section, 
by striking out the words “New Orleans,” 
and insert in lieu thereof the words “seat 
of government;” which motion was lost. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion, by striving out the proviso, so that 
the section may read as originally present¬ 
ed by the committee, viz : 

Sec. 1. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district 
courts to be established throughout the 
State, in justices of the peace, and in such 
other courts in the city of New Orleans as 
the legislature may, from time to time, 
direct. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

M essrs. Beatty , Benjamin, Bourg.Briant , 
Brumfield , Carrier c, Chinn , Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes , Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis , Garcia , Guion , Hudspeth, 
Humble , Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, Marig- 
ny, Mazureau, Preston , Pugh, Roman, lio- 
selius, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane , Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry, Trist Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Weder strandt , Wikoff, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—41 yeas; and 

Messrs. Braz&ale , Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Chambliss, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
DuBouchel, Garrett, King, Labauve , Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Read, Si. Amand, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Stephens 
and Waddill voted in the negative—24 
nays ; consequently said motion was 
carried. 

Mr. Brent offered the following amend¬ 
ment, viz: 

“Until otherwise provided for, the ap¬ 
peals from the parishes of Rapides, Avoy¬ 
elles, Natchitoches, Sabine, DeSoto, Bos¬ 
sier, Caddo and Claiborne shall be return¬ 
able as heretofore.” 

On a qucstian of order, 

The Chair, (Mr. Taylor of Assumption 
in the chair) decided the amendment to be 
out of order. 

Mr. Brent appealed from the decision 
of the chair; and the question being put, 
“shall the decision of the chair be sustain¬ 
ed? ” and the yeas and nays being called 
for, (Mr. Miles Taylor in the chair,) 


Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg , Benja¬ 
min, Briant, Carriere , Chambliss, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbert¬ 
son, Derbes, Downs, DuBouchel, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garcia , Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, 
Me Callop, Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, 
Pugh, Read, Roman , Roselius, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Weder - 
strandt , Wadsworth, Wikoff, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—48 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, 
Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, Humble, 
Hynson, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Scott of Feliciana, 
Stephens and WaddiU voted in the nega¬ 
tive—17 nays; consequently the decision 
of the chair was maintained. 

Mr. Brent, having voted in the major¬ 
ity, moved to reconsider the vote recon¬ 
sidering the fifth section, under the mo¬ 
tion of Mr. Splane. * 

On a question of order, the Chair, (Mr. 
Taylor of Assumption in the chair) deci¬ 
ded the motion to be in order. 

Mr. Beatty appealed from the decision 
of the chair; and the question being put, 
“shall the decision of the chair be sustain¬ 
ed?” the same was sustained. 

The yeas and nays were then called for 
on the motion of Mr. Brent to reconsider, 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brent, Bri- 
ant, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Chinn, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson, Du¬ 
Bouchel, Downs, Garrett, Hudspqtfi, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, King, Labauve, Lew¬ 
is, Ale Callop, McRae, Alayo, Peels, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of St. 

~ andry, Trist, Waddill, Weder strandt and 
Wikoff voted in the affirmative—39 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brumfield, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Garcia, Guion, Legendre, Marigny, Pugh, 
Roman , Roselius, Saunders, Splane, Voor¬ 
hies, Wadsworth, Winchester and J Tinder 
voted in the negative—20 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was earned. 

Mr. Garrett moved for the reconsider¬ 
ation of the vote adopting the eleventh 






276 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


section of the judiciary; which motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to reconsider the 
first section of the judiciary. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Marigny, Porter, Pugh, 
Roselius, Saunders , Scott of Feliciana, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies and Wads¬ 
worth voted in the affirmative—16 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin,. Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Cham¬ 
bliss, Chinn, Downs, DuBouchel, Dunn, 
Eustis, Garrett Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, King , Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Me Gallop, McRae, Mayo, 
Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Read, Roman , Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Trist, Waddill, Weder- 
strandt Wikojf and Winchester voted in 
the negative—42 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Humble moved to reconsider the 
vote adopting the section removing the 
seat of government from the city of New 
Orleans. The yeas and nays being called 
for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Derbes,Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, 
Garrett, Humble, Legendre, Mayo, Ma¬ 
rigny, Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Roman, Roselius, Splane, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies and Wads¬ 
worth voted in the affirmative—25 yeas ; 
and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Chinn, Cham¬ 
bliss, Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Hynson, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Lewis, McCal¬ 
lop, McRae, Pugh, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Scott 
of Feliciana, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Waddill Wederstrandt, 
Wikoffi, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—34 nays ; consequently said 
motion was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to re¬ 
consider the vote rejecting the additional 
section offered by Mr. Eustis, providing 
that on nominations for judicial officers, 
after the first appointment under this con¬ 
stitution, if the senate shall advise the re¬ 


appointment of the incumbent, he shall be 
reappointed. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Beatty, Benjamin, Briant, Ce¬ 
nas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Dunn, Eus¬ 
tis, Garcia, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
King, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Pugh, 
Roman, Roselius, Saunders, Taylor of St. 
Landry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wikoff, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affirm¬ 
ative—29 yeas; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, 
Brumfield, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, DuBouchel, Humble, Hynson, 
Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
St.Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Mad¬ 
ison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption, Trist, Waddill and Weder- 
strand, voted in the negative—33 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Garcia moved to reconsider the 
vote fixing the apportiontment of the par¬ 
ish of St. John the Baptist. The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Briant, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Dunn, Der¬ 
bes, Garcia, Kenner, Legendre, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Wadsworth and Winchester voted 
in the affirmative —17 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Covillion, Downs, DuBouchel Eus¬ 
tis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, King, Labauve, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madi¬ 
son, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Weder¬ 
strandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
negative—41 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was lost. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at nine o’clock, a. m. 


Friday, May 9, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Nicholson opened the 
proceedings with prayer. 

On motion of Mr. Porter the vote re¬ 
jecting the twenty-seventh section of the 






277 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


bill of rights was reconsidered, and said 
section was taken up, viz : 

Sec. 27. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this Constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over all the ter- 
ritorv which may hereafter be ascertain¬ 
ed to be within her limits, or over any ter¬ 
ritory acquired by compact with any State, 
or with the United States, the same being 
done by consent of the United States.” 

Mr. Porter moved for the adoption of 
said section; the yeas and nays being cal¬ 
led for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield,Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Co- 
villion, Dunn, Eustis, Garret, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Lewis, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Mayo, Beets, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott 
of Madison, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill,Wed¬ 
erstrandt, Wikoff and Winder voted in the 
affirmative—38 yeas, and « 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Briant, Derbes, 
Kenner, Legem ire, Mazureau, Roman, Sel¬ 
lers and Taylor of Assumption voted in the 
negative—10 nays; consequently said sec¬ 
tion was adopted, and the same was trans¬ 
ferred to the general provisions. 

Mr. Porter agreeably to notice moved 
to reconsider the vote adopting the sec¬ 
tion offered by Mr. Taylor of Assumption, 
relative to the acquiring of residence in this 
S4ate. The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Brent, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis,Guion, Humble, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of St. Landry, Read, Splane, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—14yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Bra¬ 
zeale, Briant, Brumfield, Burton, Cade, 
Carriere , Chambliss, Chinn, Covillion, 
Garrett, Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, La¬ 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Me Call op, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Peets, Prudhomme, Pugh, Ro¬ 
man, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Wikoff 
and Winder voted in the negative—38 
nays; consequently the said motion was lost* 
On motion of Mr. Garcia the recon¬ 
sideration of the section on duelling was 
postponed until twelve o’clock m., this day. 


On motion of Mr. Dunn the schedule 
was taken up, viz; 

That no inconvenience may arise from 
the alterations and amendments made in 
the Constitution of this State and in order 
to carry the, same into complete operation 
and effect it is hereby declared and or¬ 
dained : 

That all laws of the State in force at the 
time of making the said alterations and 
amendments, and not inconsistent there¬ 
with, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, 
claims and contracts, as well of individuals, 
as of bodies corporate, shall continue, as if 
the said alterations and amendments had 
not been made. 

The governor, secretary of State, judges 
and all other officers, both civil and mili¬ 
tary, shall continue in the exercise of the 
duties of their respective departments, until 
superceded and their successors duly in¬ 
ducted into office, pursuant to the provi¬ 
sions contained in the foregoing alterations 
and amendments. 

On motion of Mr. Benjamin, the above 
report was laid on the table subject to call. 

It being twelve o’clock m., Mr. Garcia 
moved for the reconsideration of the vote 
adopting the section on duelling. The 
yeas and nays being called for 
Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Bourg,Briant, 
Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson Culbertson, Derbes, Du- 
Buochel,Garcia, Kenner, Labauve, Legen¬ 
dre, Marigny , Mazureau, Porter, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Splane, Taylor cf As¬ 
sumption, Trist, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
Wikoff and Winchester voted in the affir¬ 
mative-30 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent , Burton, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Lends, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peets, Preston, Pugh, Read, 
Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Ste* 
phens, Taylor of St. Landry, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—34 nays ; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Eustis was excused from serving 
on the committee of enrolment, and the 
president appointed Mr, Cenas in his stead. 

On motion the report of the committee 







278 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


of revision on the judiciary article was 
taken up, viz: 

Sec. 1 . The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district 
courts and in justices of the peace. 

Sec. 2. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only except in cases 
hereinafter provided, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases where the matter 
in dispute shall exceed three hundred 
dollars. 

Sec. 3. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice, and of three 
associate justices, a majority of whom 
shall constitute a quorum. The chief jus¬ 
tice shall receive a salary of six thousand 
dollars annually, and each of the associate 
judges shall receive a salary of five thou¬ 
sand five hundred dollars annually. The 
said court shall appoint its own clerks. 
The said judges shall be appointed by the 
governor, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the senate, for the term of eight 
years. 

Sec. 4. When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for eight years, 
one of the associate judges for six years, 
one for four years, and one for two years, 
and in the event of the death, resignation 
or removal of any of the said judges before 
the expiration of the period for which 
he was appointed, his successor shall bh 
appointed only for the remainder of this 
term, so that the term of service of no 
two of said judges shall expire at the same 
time. 

Sec. 5. The supreme court shall hold its 
sessions in New Orleans, from the first 
Monday of the month of November to the 
end of the month of June, inclusive. The 
legislature shall have power to fix the ses¬ 
sions elsewhere during the rest of the year; 
until otherwise provided, the sessions shall 
be held as heretofore. 

Sec. 6. The supreme court and each of 
the judges thereof shall have power to issue 
writs of habeas corpus, at the instance of 
all persons in actual custody under process 
in all cases in which they may have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction. 

Sec. 7. The appellate jurisdiction of the 
supreme court shall extend to ail cases in 
which the constitutionality or legality of 
any tax, toll, or impost of any kind or na¬ 
ture soever shall be in contestation, what¬ 


ever may be the amount thereof; and like¬ 
wise to all fines, forfeitures and penalties 
imposed by municipal corporations. 

Sec. 8. The supreme court shall have 
appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases on 
questions of law alone, in all cases in 
which the punishment of death or hard 
labor may be inflicted, or a fine exceeding 
three hundred dollars is actually imposed. 

Sec. 9. In all cases in which the judges 
shall be equally divided in opinion, the 
judgment appealed from shall stand af¬ 
firmed; in which case each of the judges 
shall give his separate opinion in writing. 

Sec. 10. The judges by virtue of their 
office shall be conservators of the peace 
throughout the State. The style of all 
process shall be £ ‘the State of Louisiana.” 
All prosecutions shall be carried on in the 
name and by the authority of the State of 
Louisiana, and conclude against the peace 
and dignity of the same. 

Sec. 11. The judges of all courts within 
this State shall as often as it may be possible 
so to do, in every definitive judgment, refer 
to the particular law in virtue of which such 
judgment may be rendered, and in all cases 
adduce the reasons on which their judg¬ 
ment is founded. 

Sec. 12. No court or judge shall make 
any allowance by way of fee or compensa¬ 
tion in any suit or proceedings except for 
the payment for such fees to ministerial 
officers as may be established by law. 

Sec. 13. The supreme court and district 
court, and the several judges thereof, are 
prohibited from exercising any jurisdiction 
or performing any duties but such as are 
judicial, and from receiving any fees of 
office, and no other functions or duties 
shall ever be attached by law to the office 
of judge but such as are judicial. 

Sec. 14. The judges of all courts shall 
be liabe to impeachment,, but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be sufficient 
ground for impeachment, the governor 
shall remove any of them, on the address 
of three-fourths of the members present of 
each house of the general assembly. In 
every such case, the cause or causes for 
which such removal may be required, 
shall be stated at length in the address, 
and inserted in the journal of each house. 

Sec. 15. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many other 
prosecuting attornies for this State as may 



879 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


be hereafter found necessary. The said 
attornies shall be appointed bv the govern¬ 
or, with the advice and approbation of the 
senate, for the term of two years. Their 
duties shall be determined by law. 

Sec, 16. The first legislature assembled 
under this constitution, shall divide the 
State into judicial districts, which shall re¬ 
main unchanged for six years, and be sub¬ 
ject to re-organization every sixth year 
thereafter. 

The number of districts shall not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. 

For each district, one judge, learned in 
the law, shall be appointed, except in the 
districts in which the cities of New Or¬ 
leans and Lafayette are situated, in which 
the legislature may establish as many dis¬ 
trict courts as the public interest may 
require. 

Sec. 17. Each of the said judges shall 
receive a salary to be fixed by law, which 
shall not be increased or diminished during 
his term of office, which salary shall never 
be less than two thousand five hundred 
dollars annually. He must be a citizen of 
the United States, over the age of thirty 
years, and have resided in the State six 
years next preceding his appointment, and 
have practised law therein for the space of 
five years. 

Sec. 18. The judges of said district 
courts shall hold their offices for the term 
of six years, and shall be appointed by the 
governor, by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the senate. The judges first ap¬ 
pointed shall be divided by lot into three 
classes, as nearly equal as may be, and 
the term of office of the judges of the first 
class shall expire at the end of two years; 
of the second class at the end of four 
years, and of the third class at the end of 
six years. 

Sec. 19. The said district courts shall 
have general original jurisdiction in all 
civil cases, when the amount in dispute 
exceeds fifty dollars, exclusive of interest. 
In all criminal cases, and in all matters 
connected with succession, their jurisdic¬ 
tion shall be unlimited. 

Sec. 20. The legislature shall have 
power to vest in clerks of courts authority 
to grant such orders, and do such acts as 
may be deemed necessary for the further¬ 
ance of the administration of justice, and 


[ in all cases the powers thus granted shall 
be specified and determined. 

Sec. 21. The clerks of the several 
courts shall be removeable for breach of 
good behavior, by the judges thereof, sub¬ 
ject in all cases, to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Sec. 22. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed, in civil cases, 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the dis¬ 
trict court in such cases as shall be pro¬ 
vided for by law. They shall be elected 
by the qualified voters of each parish, for 
the term of two years, and shall have such 
criminal jurisdiction as shall be provided 
for by law. 

Sec. 23. The judges of the supreme 
court and district courts, provided for in 
this constitution, shall be appointed and 
commissioned as soon as possible after this 
constitution shall take effect, and the legis¬ 
lature shall provide for the removal of all 
causes now pending in the supreme or 
other courts of this State, under the con¬ 
stitution of 1812, to the supreme and dis¬ 
trict courts created by this constitution. 

Sec. 24. Clerks in the district courts in 
this State, shall be elected by the qualified 
electors in each parish, for the term of 
fonr years, and should a vacancy occur 
subsequent to an election, it shall be filled 
by the judge of the court in which such 
vacancy exists, and the person so appoint¬ 
ed shall hold his office until the next gene¬ 
ral election. 

Sec. 25. A sheriff shall be elected in 
each parish by the qualified voters thereof, 
who shall hold his office for the term 
of two years, unless sooner removed. 
Should a vacancy occur, subsequent to 
an election, it shall be filled by the gov- 
rnor; and the person so appointed shall 
continue in office until his successor shall 
be elected and qualified. 

Sec. 26. All parish officers, not other¬ 
wise provided for by this constitution, 
shall be elected by the qualified electors of 
the different parishes, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. Provided , 
that the mode of appointment and tenure 
of office of all officers in the parish of Or¬ 
leans shall remain as heretofore, unless 
otherwise provided for by the legislature. 

Mr. Brent, moved to amend the twen- 


i 



280 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


ty-sixth section by inserting in the pro- | 
viso before the word “officers,” the word 
“such.” 

The Chair decided the amendment to 
be out of order. 

Mr. Prescott of St. Landry appealed 
from the decision of the chair, and the 
question being put shall the decision ot the 
chair be maintained; the yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert , Briant, Carriere, Ce- 
nas , Chinn , Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Downs, Du- 
Bouchel, Dunn, Eustis , Garcia , Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, La- 
baucc, Legendre, Lewis , McRae, Marigny, 
Mazureau, Peets, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amafid , Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt, Wikoff, Winchester and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—42 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Beatty , Brazeale, Brent, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, Culbert¬ 
son, Hynson, Me Callop, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston , Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Splane, Taylor of Assumption 
Trist and Voorhies voted in the negative 
—19 nays ; consequently said motion was 
lost. 

On motion the report of the committee 
of revision on the legislative departments, 
was taken up, viz: 

Sec. 1. The legislative power of the 
State shall be vested in two distinct 
branches, the one to be styled the House 
of Representatives, the other the Senate, 
and both “the General Assembly of the 
State of Louisiana.” 

Sec. 2. The members of the house of 
representatives shall continue in service 
for the term of two years from the day of 
the closing of the general elections. 

Sec. 3. Representatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday in November, eve¬ 
ry two years; and the general assembly 
shall meet on the third Monday in Janu¬ 
ary next ensuing the election in every 
second year, unless a different day be ap¬ 
pointed bylaw, and their sessions shall be 
held at the seat of government. The elec- 
tion shall be completed in one day. 

Sec. 4. No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male, and has not been for 


three years a citizen of the United States; 
and has not attained the age of twenty-one 
years and resided in the State for the three 
years next preceding the election, and the 
last year thereof in the parish for which he 
may be chosen. 

Sec. 5. Elections for representatives for 
the several parishes or representative dis¬ 
tricts shall be held at the several election 
precincts established by law, and which 
the legislature having in view the conve¬ 
nience of the voters,may from time to time 
establish; Provided, that the Legislature 
may delegate the power of establishing 
election precincts to the parochial or muni¬ 
cipal authorities. 

Sec. 6. Representation shall be equal 
and uniform in this State, and shall forever 
be regulated and ascertained by the num¬ 
ber of qualified electors therein; Provided, 
that each parish shall have at least one re¬ 
presentative: and provided further, that no 
new parish shall be created with a territory 
less than six hundred and twenty.five 
square miles,nor with a number of electors 
less than the ratio at the time,nor when the 
creation of such new parish would leave 
any other parish without the said extent 
of territory and number of electors. 

The first census to be taken bv the State 

•/ 

authorities under this Constitution shall be 
taken in the year 1847, the second in the 
year 1855: and the subsequent enumera¬ 
tions shall be made every tenth year there¬ 
after, in such manner as shall be prescribed 
by law, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
number of qualified electors in each parish. 

At the first regular session of the legisla¬ 
ture after the making of each census, the le- 
gislature shall apportion the representation 
amongst the several parishes on the basis 
of qualified electors as aforesaid. A repre¬ 
sentative number being fixed, each parish 
shall have as many representatives as the 
aggregate number of electors will entitle it 
to, and an additional representative for any 
fraction exceeding by one-half the repre¬ 
sentative number. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situa¬ 
ted on the left bank of the Missisippi shall 
be divided into nine representative dis¬ 
tricts as follows, viz: 

1st. First district to extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson, to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin,Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district to extend from the 





Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 281 


last mentioned limits to the middle of Julia 
street, until it strikes the New Orleans 
canal, thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district to comprise the resi¬ 
due of the Second Municipality. 

4th. Fourth district to extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of 
St. Louis street, until it reaches the Me¬ 
tairie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district to extend from the last 
mentioned limits to the middle of St. Philip 
street, thence down said street until its in- 
terseetion with the bayou St. John, thence 
along the middle of said bayou until it in¬ 
tersects the Metairie road thence along said 
road until it reaches St. Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district to be composed of the 
residue of the First Municipality. 

7th. Seventh district, from the middle 
Esplanade street to the middle of Champs 
Elysees street. 

8th. Eighth district, from the middle of 
Champs Elysees street to the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue. 

9th. Ninth district, from the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue to 
the lower limits of the parish. 

Until the first enumeration shall be made 
as directed in this section, the parish of 
Orleans shall be entitled to twenty repre¬ 
sentatives, to be elected as follows, viz: 

Eight by the First Municipality,-seven 
by the Second Municipality, and four by 
the Third Municipality, to be distributed 
among the nine representative districts as 
follows, by allotting to the 


First district, 
Second 
Third 
Fourth 
Fifth 
Sixth 
Seventh 
Eighth 
Ninth 


44 


ti 


<( 


it 


u 

tt 


tt 


tt 


3 

3 

3 

2 

2 

1 

1 


V 


it 


tt 


And one by that part of the parish on the 
right bank of the Mississippi. 

The parish of Plaquemines, 3 

St. Bernard, 1 

Jefferson, 3 

St. Charles, 1 

St. John the Baptist; 1 

St. James, 2 

Ascension, 2 

Assumption, „ 3 

36 


tt 


t < 


t < 




»t 


The parish of Lafourche Interior, 

3 

(4 

Terrebone, 

2 

44 

Iberville, 

a 

(4 

West Baton Rouge, 

I 

44 

East do. 

8 

44 

West Feliciana, 

2 

44 

East do 

3 

44 

St. Helena, 

1 

44 

Washington, 

1 

44 

Livingston, 

1 

44 

St. Tammany, 

1 

44 

Point Coupee/ 

1 

44 

Concordia, 

1 

* “ 

Tensas, 

1 

44 

Madison, 

1 

44 

Carroll, 

l 

44 

Franklin, 

1 

44 

St. Mary, 

2 

44 

St. Martin, 

3 

44 

Vermillion, 

1 

44 

Lafayette, 

2 

44 

St. Landry, 

5 

44 

Calcasieu, 

1 

44 

Avoyelles, 

o 

At! 

44 

Rapides, 

3 

44 

Natchitoches, 

3 

44 

Sabine, 

2 

44 

Caddo, 

1 

44 

De Soto, 

1 

44 

Ouachita, 

I 

44 

Morehouse, 

1 

44 

Union, 

I 

44 

Jackson, 

I 

44 

Caldwell, 

I 

44 

Catahoula, 

a 

44 

Claiborne, 

2 

44 

Bossier/ 

1 


Total, 

98 

Sec. 

7. The house of representatives 


shall choose its speaker and other officers. 

Sec. 8. In all elections for representa¬ 
tives, every free white male citizen of the 
United States who has attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the State 
two consecutive years next preceding the 
election, and the last year thereof in the 
parish in which he offers to vote, shall 
have the right of voting. Electors shall 
in all cases, except treason, felony, breach 
or surety of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance ^t, going to, 
or returning from elections. 

Sec. 9. Absence from the State for more 
than ninety consecutive days, shall inter¬ 
rupt the acquisition of the residence requi- 




282 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


red in the preceding section, unless the 
person absenting himself shall be a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on business, and his dwelling house 
or tenement for carrytng on business shall 
be actually occupied during his absence, by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by some one employed by him. 

Sec. 10 . No person shall have the right 
of voting in this State until he has been 
two years a citizen of the United States: 
Provided, that this section shall not be con¬ 
strued so as to deprive any person of the 
right of voting who is entitled to that right 
under the constitution of 1812, at the time 
of the adoption of this constitution. 

Sec. 11. No person shall be entitled to 
vote at any election held in this State, ex¬ 
cept in the parish of his residence, and in 
cities and towns divided into election pre¬ 
cincts in which he resides. 

Sec. 12. The members of the Senate 
shall be chosen for the term of four years, 
and when assembled shall have the power 
to chose its officers every two years. 

Sec. 13. The State shall be divided into 
the following senatorial districts, and the 
senators to be elected shall be voted for by 
persons entitled to vote for representatives. 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators; 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the right bank of the river, 
shall compose one district, with one senator; 

Tiie parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one -senator; 

The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district with one senator;, 

The parishes of Assumptton, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators; 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose oye district, 
with one senator; 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator; 

'Die parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 


The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
0 ne distrtet, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators; 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

Tire parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house and Ouachita shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, withjone 
senator; 

And whenever a new parish shall be crea¬ 
ted,it shall be attached to the senatorial dis¬ 
trict from which most of its territory w r as 
taken or to another contiguous district at 
thediscretion of the legislature, but shall not 
be attached to more than one district. 

The legislature in every year in which 
they shall apportion representation in the 
house of representatives shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district, the parish of Orleans ex- 





- 283 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


cepled. The number of senators shall be 
thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned 
among the senatorial districts according to 
the total population contained in the seve¬ 
ral districts: Provided , that no parish shall 
be entitled to more than one-eighth of the 
whole number of senators. 

Sec. 14. In all apportionments of the 
senate, the population of the city of New 
Orleans shall be deducted from the popu¬ 
lation of the whole State, and the remain¬ 
der of the poplation divided by the number 
twenty eight, and the result produced by 
this division shall be the senatorial ratio 
entitling a senatorial district to a senator. 
[Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
nearest possible to the number entitling a 
district to a senator; and if in the appor¬ 
tionment to be made, a parish or district 
may be found to be deficient of, or to ex¬ 
ceed by one-fifth, the ratio, then a district 
may' be formed having not more than two 
senators, but not otherwise.]* 

No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment. 

After the census lias been taken, and the 
general assembly convened, the legislature 
shall not pass any laws until an apportion¬ 
ment is made. 

Sec. 15 At the session of the general 
assembly, after this constitution takes ef¬ 
fect, the senators shall be divided bv lot as 
equally as can be, into two classes; the seats 
of the senators of the first class shall be va¬ 
cated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the cxpii ation of the 
fourth year; so that one-half shall be chosen 
every two years and a rotation thereby kept 
up perpetually. In case any district shall 
have elected two or more senators, said 
senators shall vacate their seats respective¬ 

* Project as a substitute for the para¬ 
graph in brackets. 

[When the population of a single parish 
or of contiguous parishes, exceeds by more 
than one-fifth, or is not less than one- 
fifth of the senatorial ratio entitling the 
said parish or contiguous parishes, to two 
senators, then the said parish or contiguous 
parishes shall (may) be formed into one 
district, with not more than two senators.] 


ly at the end of two and four years, and 
the lots shall be drawn between them. 

Sec. 16. No person shall be a senator, 
who at the time of his election, has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and who has not attained the age of 
twenty-seven years,and resided in the State 
four years next preceding his election, 
and one year in the district in which he 
may be chosen. 

Sec. 17. The first election for senators 
shall be general throughout the State, and 
at the same time that the general election 
for representatives is held; and thereafter 
there shall be biennial elections to fill the 
place of those whose time of service may 
have expired. 

Sec. 18. Not less than a majority of thd 
members of each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall form a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and shall be authorised by law 
to compel the attendance of absent mem¬ 
bers, in such manner and under such pen¬ 
alties as may be prescribed thereby. 

Sec. i 9. Each house of the general 
assembly shall judge of the qualification, 
election and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Sec. 20. Each house of the General 
Assembly may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish a member for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two-thirds expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same offence. 

Sec. 21. Eacli house of the general as. 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings; and the yeas 
and nays of the members on any question 
shall, at the desire of two of them, be en¬ 
tered on the journal. 

Sec. 22. Each house may punish by im¬ 
prisonment any person not a member, for 
disrespectful and disorderly behavior, in 
its presence or for obstructing any of its 
proceedings; provided, such imprisonment 
shall not exceed ten days for any one of¬ 
fence. 

Sec. 23. Neither house, during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly, shall without 
the consent of the other, adjoTirn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which they may be sitting. 

Sec. 24. The members of the general 





284 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


assembly shall receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during 
their attendance, going to and returning 
Xrom the session of their respective houses; 
provided , that the same may be increased 
jor diminished by law; but no alteration 
shall take effect during the period of ser¬ 
vice of the members of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives by whom such alterations shall 
have been made; and provided, also , that 
no session shall extend to a period beyond 
sixty days to the date from its commence, 
ment, and that any legislative action had 
after the expiration of the said sixty days, 
shall be null and void, except the session 
of the first legislature which is to convene 
after the adoption of this constitution. 

Sec. 25. The members of the general 
assembly shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at the sessions of their respective 
houses; and going to or returning from the 
same, and for any speech or debate in 
eitaer house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Sec. 26. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
.elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during, the time 
such senator or representative was in 
office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of 
the people. 

Sec. 27. No person, while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest or teacher of any religious persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to 
the general assembly. 

Sec. 28. No person who at any time 
may have been a colleetor of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money’-, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly, or to any other office of 
profit or trust under the State government, 
until he shall have obtained a discharge 
for the amount of such collections, and for 
all public moneys with which he may 
have been entrusted. 

Sec. 29. No bill shall have the force of 
a law until on three several days, it be read 
over in each house of the general assem¬ 


bly, and free discussion allowed thereon, 
unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the 
house, when the bill shall be pending, may 
deem it expedient to dispense with this 
rule. 

Sec. 30. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives. but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments as in other bill?; provided , that they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment which does not 
relate to raising a revenue. 

Sec. 31. The general assembly shall 
regulate by law, by whom, and in what 
manner, writs of election shall be issued, 
to fill the vacancies which may happen in 
either branch thereof. 

Sec. 32. A majority of all the members 
elected to the senate, shall be required for 
the confirmation or rejection of officers to 
be appointed by the governor, with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the senate; and the 
senate in deciding thereon, shall vote by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the sena¬ 
tors voting for and against the appoint¬ 
ments respectively, shall be entered on a 
journal to be kept for that purpose, and 
made public at the end of each session, or 
before. 

Sec. 32. No soldier, seaman or marine 
in the army of the United States, no 
pauper, no person under interdiction, nor ' 
under conviction of any crime punishable 
-with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote 
at any election in this State. 

V 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock. 

Note. —Members absent at the call of 
the roll: Messrs. O’Bryan, Penn and Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles absent on leave; Mr. 
Porche absent on account of illness; and 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Carriere, 
Oenas, Cbnrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Du- 
Bouchel, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
King, Ledoux, Marigny, Prescott of St- 
Landry, Preston, Prudhomme, Ratliff, Ro- 
selius, St. Amand, Soule, Wikoff and Win¬ 
der did not answer to their names at the 
call of the roll. 


Saturday, May 10, 1845. 
The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

In the absence of a minister of the gos^» 
pel, the Hon. Mr. Stevens, at the request 




285 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana• 


of the President, opened the proceedings 
• with prayer. 

The President submitted a letter from 
Mr. Bayon, in relation to his compensation 
as printer to the Convention, and the same 
was referred to the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses. * 

Mr. Read, one of the committee on 
contingent expenses, submitted the follow¬ 
ing resolution, and the same was adopted, 
viz: 

“ Resolved, that the sum of two hun¬ 
dred and sixty-two dollars and fifteen cents 
be allowed B. M. Norman, bookseller and 
stationer, and that the committe on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorised to issue a war¬ 
rant for the same.” 

Mr. Brent submitted the following res¬ 
olution, and the same was adopted, viz : 

“That the committee of revision shall 
have the power to recommend for correc¬ 
tion any inaccuracies that might be dis¬ 
covered in the constitution after the sec¬ 
ond reading.” 

Mr. Mayo gave notice that he will, when 
the judiciary article be taken up for its 
third reading, move to determine and fix 
the qualifications of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court. 

On motion, the report of the committee 
of revision on the article of impeachment 
was taken up, and the same was adopted, 
as reported, viz: 

article fifth. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

Sec. 1 . The power of impeachment 
shall be vested in the house of representa. 
fives. 

Sec. 2. Impeachments of the governor, 
lieutenant governor, attorney general, sec¬ 
retary of State, State treasurer, and the 
judges of the district courts, shall be tried 
by the senate; the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior judge of said 
court, presiding. 

Impeachments of the judges of the su¬ 
preme court shall be tried by the senate. 

The legislature shall provide by law for 
the trial, punishment and removal from 
office of all other officers of the State, by 
indictment or otherwise. 

When sitting as a court of impeachment, 
the senators shall be upon oath or affirma¬ 
tion, and no person shall be convicted with¬ 
out the concurrence of two-thirds of the 
senators present. 


» 

Sec. 3. Judgments in cases of impeach¬ 
ment shall not extend further than to re¬ 
moval from office and disqualification from 
holding any officr of honor, trust or profit 
under this State; but the parties convicted 
shall, nevertheless, be subject to indictment, 
trial and punishment according to law. 

All officers against whom articles ofim- 
peachment may be preferred, shall be sus¬ 
pended from the exercise of their functions 
during the pendency and trial of such im¬ 
peachment; Provided , that the appointing 
power may make a provisional appoint¬ 
ment of an officer to replace the suspended 
officer until the decision shall be made on 
the impeachment. 

On motion the scedule was taken up, 
viz: 

SCHEDULE. 

I That no inconvenience may arise 
from the alterations and amendments made 
in the constitution of this State, and in or¬ 
der to carry the same into complete oper¬ 
ation and effect, it is hereby declared and 
ordained: 

2. '1 hat all laws of this State, in force 
at the time of making the said alterations 
and amendments, and not inconsistent 
therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecu¬ 
tions, claims and contracts, as well of in¬ 
dividuals as of bodies corporate, shall con¬ 
tinue as if the said alterations and amend¬ 
ments had not been made. 

3. The governor, secretary of State, 
judges, and’all other officers, both civil and 
military, shall continue in the exercise of 
the duties of their respective departments 
until superceded, and their successors duly 
inducted into office r pursuantto the provis¬ 
ions contained in the foregoing alterations 
and amendments. 

Mr. Saunders submitted as a substitute 
for the above, the following, and the same 
was adopted, viz: 

“The constitution adopted in conven¬ 
tion, January second, 1812, is declared-to 
be superceded by the alterations and 
amendments herein adopted; and in order 
to carry the same into operation and effect, 
it is hereby declared and ordained 

That all laws of this State in force at 
the time of the adoption of this constitu¬ 
tion, and not inconsistent therewith, and 
all rights, actions and prosecutions, claims 
and contracts, as well of individuals as of 
bodies corporate, shall continue as if the 


f 





286 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana # 


said alterations and amendments had not 
been made. 

Thqgovernor, secretary of State, judges, 
and all other officers, civil and military, 
shall continue in the exercise of the duties 
of their respective departments until su¬ 
perceded under the authority of this con¬ 
stitution. 

Provided, that nominations and appoint¬ 
ments to office, under this constitution, 
shall be made by the governor to be elect¬ 
ed under its authority.” 

Mr. Saunders offered the following ad¬ 
ditional section; the same was adopted, 
and ordered to be transferred to the gener¬ 
al provisions, viz: 

“ A treasurer of the Stale shall be elect¬ 
ed biennially, by the joint ballot, of the 
two houses of the general assembly.” 

Mr. Kenner moved to take up the ma¬ 
jority report, on submitting the constitution 
to the people. The yeas and nays being 
called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Kenner, King, Labauve, Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McCallop, Marigny, Mayo, 
Porter, Presco®* of St. Landry, Prudhom- 
me, Read, Roman, Saunders, Scott of Ba¬ 
ton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Sellers, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, Winches¬ 
ter and Winder voted in the affirmative- 
43 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Covillion, Du- 
Bouchel, Eustis,.Garrett, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Peets, Splane, Waddill and Weder- 
strandt voted in the negative—11 nays; 
consequently said motion was carried, and 
the report was taken up, viz: 

REPORT. 

Ordered, that immediately after the ad¬ 
journment of this Convention, the govern¬ 
or shall issue his proclamation, directing 
the several officers of this State authorized 
by law to hold elections for members of the 
general assembiy, to open and hold an 
election in every parish in the State, at the 
places designated by law, upon the first 
Monday of November next, for the pur¬ 
pose of taking the sense of the good peo¬ 
ple of this State in regard to the adoption 
or rejection of this amended Constitution, 


And it shall be the duty of the said officers 
to receive the votes of all persons entitled 
to vote under the old constitution, and un¬ 
der this amended constitution. Each voter, 
shall express his opinion by depositing in the 
ballot box a ticket, whereon shall be writ¬ 
ten “ the constitution accepted,” or “the 
constitution rejected,” or some such words 
as will distinctly convey the intention of 
the voter. At the conclusion of the said 
election, which shall be conducted in every 
respect as the general State election is now 
conducted, the commissioners designa¬ 
ted to preside over the same, shall careful¬ 
ly examine and count each ballot so de¬ 
posited, and shall forthwith make due re¬ 
turns thereof to the secretary of State, in 
conformity to the provisions of the exist¬ 
ing law upon the subject of elections.' 

Ordered, that upon the receipt of the 
said returns, it shall be the duty of the go¬ 
vernor, the secretary of State, the attorney 
general and the State treasurer, in the pre¬ 
sence of all such persons as may choose 
to attend, to compare the votes given in 
said election, for the ratification or rejec- ^ 
tion of this amended constitution; and if it 
shall appear from said returns, that a ma¬ 
jority of all the votes given in said elec¬ 
tion is for ratifying the amended constitu¬ 
tion, then it shall be theMuty of the gover¬ 
nor to make proclamation of that fact, and 
thenceforth this amended constitution shall 
be ordained and established as the consti- 
tuion of Louisiana. But whether the 
amended constitution be accepted or reject¬ 
ed, it shall be the du}y of the governor to 
cause to be published in the State paper 
the result of the said election, showing the 
number of votes cast for and against the 
said constitution. 

Ordered, that should this amended con¬ 
stitution be accepted by the people, it shall 
also be the duty of the gevernor forthwith 
to issue his proclamation, declaring the 
present legislature elected under the old 
constitution to be dissolved, and directing 
the several officers of the State, authorised 
by law to hold elections for members of the 
general assembly, to hold an election at 
the places designated by law, upon the 
third Monday in January next, (1846) for 
governor, lieutenant governor, members of 
the general assembly, and all other officers 
whose election is provided for, pursuant to 
the provisions of this amended constitu- 





287 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


tion. And the said election shall be con¬ 
ducted, and the returns thereof made, in 
conformity with the existing laws upon the 
subject of State elections. 

Ordered, that the general assembly elect¬ 
ed under this amended constitution, shall 
convene at the State house, in the city of 
New Orleans, upon the second Monday 
of February next, after the election, (1816) 
and that the governor and lieutenant gov¬ 
ernor, elected at the same time, shall be 
duly installed in office during the first 
week of their session, and before it shall 
be competent for the said general assem¬ 
bly to proceed with the transaction of busi¬ 
ness. 

Mr. Guion moved to amend the first sec¬ 
tion of said report by striking out in the 
fifteenth line the word “November,” and 
insert in lieu thereof the word “July.” 
The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Briant, Chinn, 
Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, King, Legendre, 
Lewis, Read, Sellers, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Taylor of St. Landry and Winder 
wo ted in the affirmative 1 —M 5 yeas; and 
Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Ohambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, 
DuBouchel. Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Hum¬ 
ble, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Ledoux, 
McCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhom- 
nie, Roman, Saunders, 'Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Voorhies, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Winchester voted in the negative—41 
nays: consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Guion then moved to amend said 
section by striking out, commencing in the 
fifteenth line, the words “and under this 
amended constitution.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Broudousquie, 
Bourg, Briant, Cade, Cenas, Chinn, Clai¬ 
borne, Conrad of Orleans, Coniad of Jef¬ 
ferson, Culbertson, Derbfcs, Dunn, Garcia, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, King, Labauve, 
Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, Sellers, Taylor 
of St. Landry, Wadsworth and Winder 
voted in the affirmative—31 yeas, and 
Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Buiton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garrett, Hum¬ 


ble, Hynson, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Porter; Prescott of St.Lan¬ 
dry, Preston, Read, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Waddill, 'Wederstrandt, and Winchester 
voted in the negative—32 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion bv inserting after the word “commis- 

w CD 

sioners,” in the 25th line, the words “and 
parish judges;” which motion prevailed. 

Mr. Downs moved that said report be 
laid on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Downs, Humble and Waddill 
voted in the affirmative—3 yeas ; and 
Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Cenas, Chinn, Covillion, Conrad of New 
Orleans, Claiborne, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Dunn, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, 
Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott' of St. Landry, Preston, 
Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli- 
liciana, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the nega¬ 
tive—59 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Lewis moved that the word 
“ amended ” be stricken out wherever it 
precedes the word “constitution;” which 
motion prevailed. 

Mr. Preston moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words “by de¬ 
positing in the ballot box a ticket whereon 
shall be written, the constitution accepted 
or the constitution rejected,” and insert in 
lieu thereof “ orally for or against the 
constitution.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Bium- 
field, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, 
Downs, Eustis, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, 
Ledoux, McRae, Mayo, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth 
and Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative 
—24 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 




288 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Bourg, Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson, Uerbes, 
Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, 
Labauve, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Ma- 
zureau, Peets, Pugh, Homan, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Voorhies, Waddill,Winchester and Winder 

voted in the negative-35 navs ; conse- 

quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved for the adoption of 
the first order. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert,Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Briant, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Genas, Chambliss, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Covillion, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hvn- 
son, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Preston, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Feliciana, Sellers Soule, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry,Voor¬ 
hies, Waddill, Wederstrandt, Winchester 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—57 
yeas; the vote being unanimous, conse¬ 
quently the first order was adopted, as 
follows, viz : 

Ordered, That immediately after the ad¬ 
journment of this Convention, the governor 
shall issue his proclamation, directing the 
several officers of this State, authorized by 
law to hold elections for members of the 
general assembly, to open and hold an 
election in every parish of the State, at the 
places designated by law, upon the first 
Monday of November next, for the purpose 
of taking the sense of the good people of 
this State in regard to the adoption or re¬ 
jection of this constitution. And it shall 
be the duty of the said officers to receive 
the votes of all persons entitled to vote un¬ 
der the old constitution, and under this 
constitution. Each voter shall express his 
opinion by depositing in the ballot box a 
ticket whereon shall be written “the con¬ 
stitution accepted” or “the constitution re¬ 
jected,” or some such words as will dis¬ 
tinctly convey the intention of the voter. 
At the conclusion of the said election, 
which shall be conducted in every respect 
as the general State election is now con¬ 
ducted, the parish judges and commission¬ 


ers designated to preside over the same, 
shall carefully examine and count each 
ballot so deposited, and shall forthwith 
make due returns thereof to the secretary 
of State, in conformity to the provisions of 
the existing law upon the subject of elec¬ 
tions. 

On motion, the second order was taken 
up, viz : 

Ordered, That upon the receipt of the 
said returns, it shall be the duty of the go¬ 
vernor, the secretary of State, the attorney 
general and the state treasurer, in the pre¬ 
sence of all such persons as may choose to 
attend, to compare the votes given in said 
election for the ratification and rejection of 
this constitution; and if it shall appear 
from said returns that a majority of all the 
votes given in said election is for ratifying 
the constitution, then it shall be the duty 
of the governor to make proclamation of 
that fact, and thenceforth this constitution 
shall be ordained and established as the 
constitution of Louisiana. But whether 
the constitution be accepted or rejected, it 
shall be the duty of the governor to cause 
to be published in the State paper the re¬ 
sult of the said election, showing the num¬ 
ber of votes cast for and against the said 
constitution. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
said order by inserting after the word 
“cast,” in the twentieth line, the words 
“in each parish,” which motion prevailed, 
and the order as amended was adopted, viz; 

Ordered, That upon the receipt of the 
said returns, it shall be the duty of the go¬ 
vernor, the secretary of State, the attorney 
general and the state treasurer, in the pre¬ 
sence of all such persons as may choose 
to attend, to compare the votes given in 
said election for the ratification and rejec¬ 
tion of this constitution; and if it shall ap¬ 
pear from said returns that a majority of 
all the votes given in said election is for 
ratifying the constitution, then it shall be 
. the duty of the governor to make proclama¬ 
tion of that fact, and thencefoith this con¬ 
stitution shall be ordained and established 
as the constitution of Louisiana. But 
whether the constitution be accepted or 
rejected, it shall be the duty of the governor 
to cause to be published in the State paper, 
the result of the said election, showing the 
number of votes cast in each parish for 
and against the said constitution. 







Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


289 


On motion, the third order was taken 
up, viz: 

Ordered , That should this constitution 
be accepted by the people, it shall also be 
the duty of the governor forthwith to issue 
his proclamation, declaring the present le¬ 
gislature, elected under the old constitution, 
to be dissolved, and directing the several 
officers of the State, authorized by law, to 
hold elections for members of the general 
assembly, to hold an election at the places 
designated by law, upon the third Monday 
in January next, (1846) for governor, lieu¬ 
tenant governor, members of the general 
assembly, and all other officers whose 
election is provided for pursuant to the 
provisions of this constitution. And the 
said election shall be conducted, and the 
returns thereof made in conformity with 
the existing laws upon the subject of State 
elections. 

Mr. Ledoux moved to amend said order 
by striking out the word “January.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Cenas, Claiborne, Covillion, 
Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, 
Labauve, Ledoux, Marigny, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Scott Baton of Rouge, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption and Voorhies voted in 
the affirmative—16 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, 
Brent, Brumfield, Burton, Cade,Chambliss, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Hynson, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Preston, Pugh, Read, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of St, Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—40 nays; consequent¬ 
ly said motion was lost, and the order as 
reported was adopted. 

On motion, the fourth order was taken 
up and adopted, viz : 

Ordered , That the general assembly, 
elected under this constitution, shall con¬ 
vene at the state house, in the city of New 
Orleans, upon the second Monday of Feb¬ 
ruary next, after the election, (1846); and 
that the governor and lieutenant governor, 
elected at the same time, shall be duly in¬ 
stalled in office during the first week of 
their session, and before it shall be compe¬ 
tent for the said general assembly to pro¬ 
ceed with the transaction of business. 

37 


On motion, the report as amended was 
adopted, to wit: 

Ordered , That immediately after the 
adjournment of this Convention, the go¬ 
vernor shall issue his proclamation, di¬ 
recting the several officers of this State, 
authorized by law to hold elections lor 
members of the general assembly, to open 
and hold an election in every parish of the 
State, at the places designated bylaw, upon 
the first Monday of November next, for 
the purpose of taking the sense of the good 
people of this State in regard to the adop¬ 
tion or rejection of this constitution. And 
it shall be the duty of the said officers to 
receive the- votes of all persons entitled to 
vote under the old constitution, and under 
this constitution. Each voter shall ex¬ 
press his opinion by depositing in the ballot 
box a ticket whereon shall be written “the 
constitution accepted” or “the constitution 
rejected,” or some such words as will dis¬ 
tinctly convey the intention of the voter. 
At the conclusion of the said election,which 
shall be conducted in every respect as the 
general State election is now conducted, 
the commissioners and parish judges des¬ 
ignated to preside over the same, shall 
carefully examine and count each ballot so 
deposited, and shall forthwith make due 
returns thereof to the secretary of State, in 
conformity to the provisions of the existing 
law upon the subject of elections. 

Ordered , That upon the receipt of the 
said returns, it shall be the duty of the go¬ 
vernor, the secretary of state, the attorney 
general and the state treasurer, in the pre¬ 
sence of all such persons as may choose 
to attend, to compare the votes given in 
said election for the ratification and rejec¬ 
tion of this constitution; and if it shall ap¬ 
pear from said returns that a majority of 
all the votes given in said election is for 
ratifying t|ic constitution, then it shall be 
the duty of the governor to make procla- * 
mation of that fact, and thenceforth this 
constitution shall be ordained and estab¬ 
lished as the constitution of Louisiana. 
But whether the constitution be accepted 
or rejected, it 3hall be the duty of the 
governor to cause to be published in the 
Stale paper the result of the said election, 
showing the number of votes cast in each 
parish for or against the said constitution. 

Ordered, That should this constitution 
ffie accepted by the people, it shall also be; 





290 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana« 


the duty of the governor forthwith to issue 
his proclamation, declaring the present 
legislature, elected under the old constitu¬ 
tion to be dissolved, and directing the seve¬ 
ral officers of the State, authorised by law, 
to hold elections for members of the gene¬ 
ral assembly, to hold an election at the 
places designated by law, upon the third 
Monday in January next, (1846,) for gov¬ 
ernor, lieutenant governor, members of the 
general assembly, and all other officers 
whose election is provided for pursuant to 
the provisions of this constitution. And 
the said election shall be conducted, and 
the returns thereof made in conformity 
with the existing laws upon the subject of 
State elections. 

Ordered, That the general assembly 
elected under this constitution, shall con¬ 
vene at the state house, in the city of New 
Orleans, upon the second Monday of Feb¬ 
ruary next, after the election, (1846); and 
that the governor and lieutenant governor, 
elected at the same time, shall be duly in¬ 
stalled in office during the first week of 
their session, and before it shall be com¬ 
petent for the said general assembly to 
proceed with the transaction of business. 

Mr. Read, on behalf of the committee 
on contingent expenses, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing report, viz : 

The committee on contingent expenses 
have carefully examined the claims-pre¬ 
sented by Jerome Rayon, and by Messrs. 
Besanqon, Ferguson and Co., and have 
come to the conclusion that the sum of 
three thousand dollars should be allowed 
to Mr. Jerome Rayon, in full payment for 
all printing (including subscription for the 
paper) already done and remaining to be 
done; and that the sum of three thousand 
three hundred and sixty dollars should 
be allowed Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson 
& Co., in full payment for ajl printing 
' (including subscription for paper) already 
done and remaining to be done; and the 
committee recommend that said sums be 
paid to the printers, deducting therefrom 
the sum of five hundred dollars paid to Mr. 
Bayon, and the sum of twelve hundred and 
fifty dollars paid to Messrs. Besangon, Fer¬ 
guson & Co., and that the said committee be 
authorised to issue a warrant in favor of Mr. 
Jerome Bayon, for the sum of two thou¬ 
sand five hundred dollars, and a warrant 
in favor of Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson & 


Co., for the sum of two thousand one 
hundred and ten dollars,—these being the 
amounts allowed after making the above 
deductions. 

(Signed,) A. READ, 

J. P. BENJAMIN, 

L. SAUNDERS, 

C. ROSELIUS. 

Mr. Beatty offered the following reso¬ 
lution, and the same was adopted, viz : 

Resolved , That the printers be furnished 
with copies of all the articles of the con¬ 
stitution, to be printed for the use of the 
Convention, by Monday next. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till 9 o’clock, a. m. 

Note. —Members absent at the call of 
the roll: Messrs. O’Bryan, Penn and Pres¬ 
cott of Avoyelles absent on leave ; Mr. 
Porche absent on account of sickness, and 
Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbcs, Downs, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Grymes, Guion, King, Labauve, Le- 
doux, Marjgny, Ratliff, Roselius, St.Amand, 
Trist, Wikoff and Winchester did not an¬ 
swer to their names at the call of the roll. 


Monday, May 12, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

In the absence of a-minister of the gos¬ 
pel the Hon. Mr. Stephens, at the request 
of the president, opened the proceedings 
with prayer. 

Mr. Eustis, chairman of the committee 
of revision, reported the preamble, and the 
same was adopted as reported, viz : 

“We, the people of the State of Lou¬ 
isiana, do ordain and establish this con¬ 
stitution.” 

The committee of revision reported the 
general provisions, for a second reading; 
the same was read, and adopted as re¬ 
ported, viz : 

TITLE IV. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Art. 89. Members of the general as¬ 
sembly, and all officers, before they enter 
upon the duties of their offices shall take 
the followi ig oath or affirmation : 

I (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as- 1 —, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 







291 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States, and of this State; and I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I, being a citizen of this State, have 
not fought a duel with deadly weapons 
within this State, nor out of it, nor have I 
sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel 
with deadly weapons, nor have acted as 
second in carrying a challenge, or aided, 
advised, or assisted any person thus of¬ 
fending, so help me God.” 

Art. 90. Treason against the State 
shall consist only in levying war against, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
. victed of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 

Art. 91. Every person shall be dis¬ 
qualified from holding any office of trust 
or profit in this State, who shall have been 
convicted of having given, or offered a 
bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 

Art. 92. Laws shall be made to exclude 
from office and from the right of suffrage, 
those who shall hereafter be convicted of 
bribery, perjury, forgery, or other high 
crimes or misdemeanors. The privilege 
of free suffrage shall be supported by laws 
regulating elections, and prohibiting un¬ 
der adequate penalties all undue influence 
thereon from power, bribery, tumult or 
other improper practice. 

Art. 93. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in pursuance of spe¬ 
cific appropriations made by law, nor shall 
any appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be 
published annually, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Art. 94. It shall be the duty of the 
general assembly to pass such laws as 
may be necessary and proper to decide 
differences by arbitration. 

Art. 95. All civil officers for the State 
at large shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their 
offices at such places therein as may be 
required by law. No person shall be 
elected or appointed to any parish office 


who shall not have resided in such parish 
long enough before such election, or ap¬ 
pointment, to have acquired the right of 
voting in such parish; and no person shall 
be elected or appointed to any district 
office, who shall not have resided in such 
district, or an adjoining district, long 
enough before such appointment or elec¬ 
tion, to have acquird the right of voting in 
the same. 

Art. 96. The duration of all offices not 
fixed by this constitution shall never exceed 
four years. * 

Art. 97. All civil officers, except the 
governor, and judges of the supreme and 
district courts, shall be removeable by an 
address of a majority of the members of 
both houses, except those the removal of 
whom has been otherwise provided for by 
this constitution. 

Art. 98. Absence on business of this 
State or of the United States, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
under the exceptions contained in this 
constitution. 

Art. 99. It shall be the c|uty of the 
legislature to provide by law for deductions 
from the salaries of public officers who 
may be guilty of a neglect of duty. 

Art. 100. The legislature shall point out 
the manner in which a person coming into 
the State shall declare his residence. 

Art. 101. In all elections by the peo¬ 
ple the vote shall be by ballot, and in all 
elections by the senate and house of repre¬ 
sentatives, jointly or separately, the vote 
shall be given viva voce . 

Art. 102. No member of congress, nor 
person holding or exercising any office of 
trust or profit under the United States, or 
either of them, or under any foreign power, 
shall be eligible as a member of the gene¬ 
ral assembly, or hold or exercise any office 
of trust or profit under the State. 

Art. 103. The laws, the public records 
and the judicial and legislative written 
proceedings of the State shall be promul¬ 
gated, preserved and conducted in the lan¬ 
guage in which the constitution of the 
United States is written. 

ArTv 104. The secretary of the senate 
and clerk of the house of representatives 
shall be conversant with the French and 





292 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


English languages; and members may ad¬ 
dress either house in the French or English 
language. 

Art. 105. The general assembly shall 
direct by law how persons who are now or 
may hereafter become sureties for public 
officers may be discharged from such 
suretyship. 

Art. 10G. No power of suspending the 
laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 
by the legislature or its authority. 

Art. 107. Prosecutions shall be by in¬ 
dictment, or information. The accused 
shall have a speedy public trial by an im¬ 
partial jury of the vicinage; he shall not 
be compelled to give evidence against him¬ 
self; he shall have the right of being heard 
by himself or counsel; he shall have the 
right, unless he shall have fled from justice, 
of meeting the witnesses face to face, and 
shall have compulsory process for obtain¬ 
ing witneses in his favor. 

Art. 108. All prisoners shall be baila¬ 
ble by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences, where the proof is evident, or pre¬ 
sumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspend¬ 
ed, unless when in case of rebellion or in¬ 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Art. 109. No ex-post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall be passed; nor vested rights-be di¬ 
vested, unless for purposes of public utility, 
and for adequate compensation previously 
made. 

Art. 110. The press shall be free. 
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and 
publish his sentiments on all subjects; being 
responsible for an abuse of this liberty. 

Art. 111. Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Art. 112. The general assembly which 
shall meet after the first election of repre¬ 
sentatives under this constitution, shall, 
within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route; and 
if on the Mississippi river, by the mean¬ 
ders of the same; and when so fixed, it 
shall not be removed without the consent 
of four-fifths of the members of both houses 
of the general assembly. The sessions 
shall be hold in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 


Art. 113. The legislature shall not 
pledge the faith of the State for the payment 
of any bonds, bills or other contracts or 
obligations for the benefit or use of any 
person or persons, corporation or body 
politic whatever. But the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, are not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

Art. 114. The aggregate amount of 
debts hereafter contracted by the legisla¬ 
ture, shall never exceed the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars, except in case 
of war to repel invasions or suppress in¬ 
surrections, unless the same be authorised 
by some law, for some single object or 
work, to be distinctly specified therein ; 
which laws shall provide ways and means, 
by taxation, for the payment of running in¬ 
terest during the whole time for which said 
debt shall be contracted, and for the full 
and punctual discharge at maturity of the 
capital borrowed, and said law shall be ir- 
repealable until principle and interest are 
fully paid and discharged, and shall not be 
put into execution until* after its enactment 
by the first legislature returned by a gene¬ 
ral election after its passage. 

Art. 115. The legislature shall provide 
by law for a change of venue in civil and 
criminal cases. 

Art. 116. No lottery shall be authorized 
by this State, and the buying or selling of lot¬ 
tery tickets within this State is prohibited. 

Art. 117. No divorce shall be granted 
by the legislature. 

Art. 118. Every law enacted by the 
legislature shall embrace but one object, 
and that shall be expressed in the title. 

Art. 119. No law shall be revived or 
amended by reference to its title; but in 
such case, the act revived, or section 
amended, shall be re-enacted and pubish- 
ed at length. 

Art. 120. The legislature shall never 
adopt any system or code of laws by gen¬ 
eral reference to such system or code of 
laws; but in all cases shall specify the sev¬ 
eral provisions of the laws it njay enact. 

Art. 121. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stock of any corporation 
or joint stock company. 







293 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Art. 122. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with banking or discounting privileges. 

Art. 123. Corporations shall not be 
created in this State by special laws except 
for political or municipal purposes ; but the 
Legislature shall provide by general laws, 
for the organization of all other corpora- 
ion>, except corporations with banking or 
liscounting privileges, the creation of which 
s prohibited. 

Art. 124. From and after the month of 
January 1890, the Legislature shall have 
the power to revoke the charters of all cor¬ 
porations whose charters shall not have 
expired previous to that time, and no cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created shall ev¬ 
er endure for a longer term than twenty- 
five years, except those which are political 
or municipal. 

Art. 125. The General Assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, for a longer period than twenty 
years. 

Art. 126. No person shall hold or exer¬ 
cise, at the same time, more than one civil 
office of emolument, except that of justice 
of the peace. 

Art. 127. Taxation shall be equal and 
uniform throughout the State. After the 
year 1848 all property, on which taxes 
may be levied in this State, shall be taxed 
in proportion to its value, to be ascertained 
as directed by law. No one species of 
property shall be taxed higher than another 
species of property of equal value, on which 
taxes shall be levied; the legislature shall 
have power to levy an income tax, and to 
tax all persons pursuing any occupation, 
trade or profession. 

Art. 128. The citizens of the city of 
New Orleans shall have the right of ap¬ 
pointing the several public officers neces¬ 
sary for the administration of the police of 
the said city, pursuant to the mode of elec¬ 
tions which shall be prescribed by the le¬ 
gislature ; provided, that the mayor and 
recorders shall be ineligible to a seat in the 
general assembly; and the mayor, record¬ 
ers and aldermen shall be commissioned 
by the governor as justices of the peace, 
and the legislature may vest in them such 
criminal jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the punishment of minor crimes and of¬ 
fences, and as the’ police and good order of 
said city may require. 


i • -v • 

Art. 129. The legislature may provide 
by law in what case officers shall continue 
to perform the duties of their offices until 
their successors shall have been inducted 
into office. 

Art. 130. Any citizen of this State who 
shall, after the adoption of this constitution, 
light a duel with deadly weapons, or send or 
accept a challenge to fight a duel with deadly 
weapons, either within the State or out of 
it, or who shall act as second, or knowing¬ 
ly aid and assist in any manner those thus 
offending, shall be deprived of holding any 
office of trust or profit, and of enjoying the 
right of suffrage under this constitution. 

Art. 131. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over any territory 
acquired by compact with any State, or 
with the United States, the same being- 
done by the consent of the United States. 

Art. 132. The constitution and laws of 
this State, shall bo promulgated in the En¬ 
glish and French languages. -> 

The report of the committee of revision 
on public education was submitted by Mr. 
Roman, and the same was adopted, viz : 

TITLE VII. 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Art. 133. There shall be appointed a 
superintendent of public education, who 
shall hold his office for two years. His 
duties shall be prescribed by law. He 
shall receive compensation as the legisla¬ 
ture may direct. 

Art. 134. The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means for their support 
by taxation on property or otherwise. 

Art. 135. The proceeds of all lands 
heretofore granted by the United States to 
this State for the use or support of schools, 
and of ail lands which may hereafter be 
granted or bequeathed to the State, and not 
expressly granted or bequeathed for any 
other purpose, which hereafter may bo 
disposed of by the State, and the proceeds 
of the estates of deceased persons to which 
the State may become entitled by law, 
shall be held by the State as a loan, and 
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, on 
which the State shall pay an annual inter¬ 
est of six per cent; which interest together 
with all the rents of the unsold lands, shall 
be appropriated to the support of such 



/' 


294 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


schools, and this appropriation shall remain 
inviolable. 

Art. 136. All moneys arising from the 
sale which have been or may hereafter be 
made of any lands heretofore granted by the 
United States to this State, for the use of a 
seminar}' of learning, and from any kind of 
donation that may hereafter be made for 
that purpose, shall be and remain a perpet¬ 
ual fund, the interest of which at six per 
cent per annum, shall be appropriated to 
the support of a seminary of learning for 
the promotion of literature and the arts and 
sciences, and no law shall ever be made 
diverting said fund to any other use than to 
the establishmeht and improvement of said 
seminary of learning. 

Art. 137. An university shall be estab¬ 
lished in the city of New Orleans. It shall 
be composed of four faculties, to wit: one 
of law, one of medicine, one of the natural 
sciences, and one of letters. 

Art. 138. It shall be called “ the Uni¬ 
versity of Louisiana,” and the Medical Col¬ 
lege of Louisian as at present organized, 
shall constitute the faculty of medicine. 

Art. 139. The legislature shall provide 
by law, for its further organization and go¬ 
vernment; but shall be under no obligation 
to contribute to the establishment or sup¬ 
port of said university by appropriations. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans, offered the fol¬ 
lowing section, which was adopted, and 
the same transferred to the executive de¬ 
partment, viz: 

“The governor shall have power to fill 
vacancies that may happen during the re¬ 
cess of the senate, by granting commis¬ 
sions which shall expire at the end of the 
next session, unless otherwise provided for 
by this constitution; but no person who 
has been nominated for office, and re¬ 
jected by- the senate, shall be appointed to 
the same office during the recess of the 
senate.” 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans then offered the 
following additional section, viz : 

“The legislature may delegate to politi¬ 
cal corporations the power to pass local 
ordinances; 'provided, that such corpora¬ 
tions shall not have power to borrow mo¬ 
ney or issue their bonds or obligations 
except for purposes strictly relative to the 
administration of municipal affairs.” 

Mr. Wadsworth moved to amend the 
said section, by adding at the end of the 


same the words “and for purposes of public 
education;” which motion prevailed, and 
the amendment adopted. 

Mr. Beatty moved to lay on the table, 
indefinitely, the section as amended. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg , Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Car Here, Cham¬ 
bliss, Humble, McCallop, McRae, Penn, 
Porter, Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott 
of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, 
Taylor of St. Landry and Wacldill voted 
in the affirmative—21 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Boudousquie, Briant, 
Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, 
Garcia , Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, Marig- 
ny, Mayo, Peels, Prescott of St. Landry, Ro¬ 
man , St. Amand, Saunders, Soule, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and Winchester 
voted in the negative—31 nays; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words “except for 
purposes strictly relative to the administra¬ 
tion of their municipal affairs, and for pur¬ 
poses of public education.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Cade, Carriere, Chambliss , Covillion, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Legendre, Mc¬ 
Callop, McRae, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, Wad- 
dill and Wederstrandt voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—26 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou¬ 
dousquie, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Culbertson , 
Derbes, Dunn , Garcia, Guion, Kenner, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Mayo, 
Roman, St. Amand, Saunders, Soule, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Voorhies, Wadsworth, 
Winchester and Winder voted inthe nega¬ 
tive—36 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Mayo then sffered to amend said 
section by adding to the Same, the follow¬ 
ing proviso, viz : 

“Provided, that no authority shall ever 
be granted by the legislature to any cor- 
porations to exercise an^ banking or dis¬ 
counting privileges, nor to issue notes, 
bills or obligations of any kind to be used 






295 


Journal of the Conven tion of Louisiana. 


as currency, and that no corporation shall 
ever be permitted to exercise any such 
powers.” 

Mr. Brent offered as a substitute for the 
provision offered by Mr. Mayo, the follow¬ 
ing, viz : 

“Provided further, that no political cor¬ 
poration shall ever be authorized to issue j 
any notes, or bills or other obligations, 
payable to bearer or endorsed in blank.” 

Mr. Brent moved for the adoption 
of the same. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Downs, Garrett, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Lewis, Me Callop,McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peels, Penn , Porter, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott <5f Feliciana, Scott, of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill, 
Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted in the 
affirmative—40 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 1 
Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad 
of Orleans, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, 
Guion, Kenner, Legendre, Roman, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Taylor of St. Landry 
and Winchester voted in the negative—19 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried and the substitute was adopted. 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend said sec¬ 
tion by striking out the words, “the legis¬ 
lature may delegate to political corpora¬ 
tions the power to pass local ordinances, 
provided that such,” and insert at the com¬ 
mencement of said section the word “mu¬ 
nicipal.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, j 
Chinn, Claiborne, Covillion, Culbertson, j 
Derbes, Downs, Humble, Hynson, McCal- \ 
lop, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, Taylor ot 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Voor¬ 
hies, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winder \ 
voted in the affirmative—38 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Briant, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Dunn, Garrett , Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis,Mayo, 
Roman, Roselius , St. Amand, Saunders, 
Wadsworth and Winchester voted in the 


negative—18 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

The yeas and nays being called for on 
the adoption of the section as amended, 
viz: 

“ Municipal corporations shall never be 
authorized to borrow, or issue their bonds 
or obligations; except for purposes strictly 
relative to the administration of their mu¬ 
nicipal offices, and for.purposes of public 
education. Provided further, that no po¬ 
litical corporation shall ever be authorized 
to issue any notes or bills or obligations, 
payable to order, or endorsed in blank,”' 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Carriere, Me- 
Gallop and Voorhies voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—5 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Briant, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Co¬ 
villion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, Dunn, 
Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn¬ 
son, Kenner, Legendre, Lewis, Mayo, Por¬ 
ter, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Read, Roman, 
Roselius, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, Seott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Windervoted in the nega¬ 
tive—50 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Soule submitted the following res¬ 
olution, and the same was adopted, viz: 

“ Resolved, That the constitution be en¬ 
rolled so as to substitute the division by 
titles to that of articles, and that the sec¬ 
tions be amended under the name of arti¬ 
cles, in a continuing run of figures, from 
the first to the last. 

On motion the preamble was taken up 
for its third reading and adopted, viz: 
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE 
OF LOUISIANA. 

PREAMBLE. 

“ We, the people of the State of Louis¬ 
iana, do ordain and establish this Constitu¬ 
tion.” 

On motion, the distribution of powers 
was taken up for the third reading, and 
adopted, viz: 

TITLE I. 

distribution of towers. 

Art. 1. The powers of the goverment 













295 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


of the State of Louisiana shall be divided 
into three distinct departments, and each 
of them confided to a separate body of 
magistracy, to wit: those which are legis¬ 
lative to one, those which are executive to 
another, and those which are judicial to 
another. 

Art. 2. No one of these departments, 
nor any person holding office in one of 
them, shall exercise power properly be¬ 
longing to either of the others, except in 
the instances hereinafter expressly directed 
or permitted. 

On motion, the report of the committee 
of revision on the judiciary department 
was taken up for its third reading, viz: 
TITLE IV. 

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT. 

Art* 62. The Judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
and in justices of the peace. 

Art. 63. The supreme court, except 
in cases hereinafter provided, shall have 
appellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdic¬ 
tion shall extend to all cases when the mat- 
ten in dispute shall exceed three hundred 
dollars, to all cases in which the constitu¬ 
tionality or legality of any tax, toll or im¬ 
post of any kind or nature soever, shall 
be in contestation, whatever may be the 
amount thereof; and likewise to all fines, 
forfeitures and penalties imposed by mu¬ 
nicipal corporations, and in criminal cases 
on questions of law alone, whenever the 
punishment of death or hard labor may 
be indicted, or when a fine exceeding three 
hundred dollars is actually imposed. 

Art. 64. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice, and of three 
associate judges, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars, and each of the associate judges a 
salary of five thousand five hundred dol¬ 
lars annually. The said court shall ap¬ 
point its own clerks. The said judges 
shall be appointed for the term of eight 
years. 

Art. 65. When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for eight years, 
one of the associate judges for six years, 
one for four years and one for two years; 
and in the event of the death, resignation 
or removal of any of said judges, before 
the expiration of the period for which he 


was appointed, his successor shall be ap¬ 
pointed only for the remainder of his term: 
so that the term of service of no two 
judges shall expire at the same time. 

Art. 66. The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in New Orleans from the first 
Monday of the month of November to the 
end of the month of June, inclusive. The 
Legislature shall have power to fix the 
sessions elsewhere during the rest of the 
year; until otherwise provided, the sessions 
shall be held as heretofore. 

Art. 67. The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof shall have power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus , at the instance 
of all persons in actual custody under pro¬ 
cess, in all cases in which they may have 
appellate jurisdiction. 

Art. 68. In all cases in which the judges 
shall be equally dtvided in opinion, the 
judgment appealed from shall stand affirm¬ 
ed; in which case each of the judges shall 
give his separate opinion in writing. 

Art. 69. All judges by virtue of their 
office shall be conservators of the peace 
throughout the State. The style of all 
process shall be “ The State of Louisiana.’ 5 
AH prosecutions shall be carried on “in 
the name, and by the authority of the 
State of Louisiana,” and conclude “against 
the peace and dignity of the same.” 

Art. 70. The judges of all the courts 
within this State shall, as often as it may 
be possible so to do, in every definitive 
judgment, refer to the particular law in vir¬ 
tue of which such judgement may be ren¬ 
dered, and in all cases adduce the reasons 
on which their judgment is founded. 

Art. 71. No court or judge shall make 
any allowance by way of fee or compen¬ 
sation in any suit or proceedings, except 
for the payment of such fees to ministe¬ 
rial officers as 'may be established by law. 

Art. 72. No duties or functions shall 
ever be attached by law to the supreme or 
district courts, or to the several judges 
thereof, but such as are judicial; and the 
said judges are prohibited from receiving 
any fees of office, or other compensation 
than their salaries for any civil duties per¬ 
formed by them. 

Art. 73. The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be sufficient 
ground for impeachment, the governor 
shall remove any of them, on the address 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


297 


of three-fourths of the members present 
of each house of the general assembly. 
In every such case, the cause or causes for 
which such removal may be required shall 
be stated at length in the address, and in¬ 
serted in the journal of each house. 

Art. 74. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many district 
attorneys as may be hereafter found neces¬ 
sary. They shall hold their offices for 
two years; their duties shall be determined 
by law. 

Art. 75. The first legislature assem¬ 
bled under this constitution shall divide 
the State intojudicial districts, which shall 
remain unchanged for six years, and be 
subject to reorganization every sixth year 
thereafter. 

The number of districts shall not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. 

For each district one judge, learned in 
the law, shall be appointed, except in the 
districts in which the cities of New Or. 
leans and Lafayette are situated, in which 
the legislature may establish as many dis¬ 
trict courts as the public interest may re¬ 
quire. 

Art. 76. Each of the said judges shall 
receive a salary to be fixed by law; which 
shall not be increased or diminished during 
his term of office, and shall never be less 
than two thousand five hundred dollars an¬ 
nually. He must be a citizen of the Uni- 
ted States, over the age of thirty years, 
and have resided in the State six years 
next preceding his appointment, and have 
practiced law therein for the space of five 
years. 

Art. 77. The judges of the district 
courts shall hold their offices for the term 
of six years. The judges first appointed 
shall be divided by lot into three classes, 
as nearly equal as can be, and the term of j 
office of the judges of the first class shall 
expire at the end of two years, of the sec¬ 
ond qass at the end of four years, and of 
the third class at the end of six years. 

Art. 78. The district courts shall have 
original jurisdiction in all civil cases when 
the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dol¬ 
lars, exclusive of interest. In all crim¬ 
inal cases, and in all matters connected 
with successions, their jurisdiction shall 
be unlimited. 

Art. 79. The legislature shall have pow¬ 
er to vest in clerks of courts authority to 1 


grant such orders, and do such acts as may 
be deemed necessary for the furtherance 
of the administration of justice, and in all 
cases the powers thus granted shall be spe¬ 
cified and determined. 

Art. 80. The clerks of the several 
courts shall be removable for breach of 
good behavior, by the judges thereof; sub- 
juect, in all cases, to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Art. 81 . The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed, in civil cases 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the dis¬ 
trict court in such cases as shall be provi¬ 
ded lor by law. They shall be elected by 
the qualified voters in each parish, for the 
term of two years, and shall have such 
criminal jurisdiction as shall be provided 
for by law. 

Art. 82. Clerks of the district courts 
in this State shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied electors in each parish, for the term of 
four years, and should a vacancy occur sub¬ 
sequent to an election, it shall be filled by 
the judge of the court in which such va¬ 
cancy exists, and the person so appointed 
shall hold his office until the next general 
election. 

Art. 83. A sheriff and a coroner shall 
be elected in each parish, by the qualified 
voters thereof, who shall hold their offices 
for the term of two years, unless sooner 
removed. 

Should a vacancy occur in either of these 
offices, subsequent to an election, it shall 
be filled by the governor; and the person 
so appointed shall continue in office until 
his successor shall be elected and qualified. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
the first section, by adding after the words 
“justices of the peace,” in the third line, 
the words “ and such other courts, in the 
city of New Orleans, as the legislature 
may from time to time direct.” 

Mr. Beatty moved to amend the amend¬ 
ment by striking out the words “ New Or¬ 
leans.” 

Mr. Benjamin moved to lay both amend¬ 
ments on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bourg, 
Brazeale, Brent, Burton, Cade, Carriere, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Eustis, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Humble, Ilynson, Kenner, Ledoux, 
Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, 







298 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Penn, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Splane, Stephens, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, Winches- 
ther and Winder voted in the affirmative 
—43 yeas; and 

Messrs. Briant, Claiborne, Conrad ol 
Orleans, Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Downs, Legendre, Marigny, Porter, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Scott of Feliciana, Sou¬ 
le and Taylor of Assumption voted in the 
negative—15 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption submitted 
the following resolution, which was adopt¬ 
ed, viz: 

Resolved , That Mr. Penn, the senato¬ 
rial delegate from the parishes of Wash¬ 
ington, Livingston and St. Helena be per¬ 
mitted to record his vote in the negative on 
the salary of the judges of the supreme 
court, as allowed by the third section of 
the judiciary power. 

Mr. Roselius moved to amend the 8th 
section by adding at the end of the same 
the following, viz: 

“ And in case the judges should all be of 
opinion that the judgment appealed from 
ought to be reversed, but are equally divi¬ 
ded as to the judgment to be rendered, 
then the opinion of the chief justice shall 
prevail.” 

Which amendment was lost. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, the judiciary article, as read above, 
was adopted, as follows, viz: 

TITLE IV. 

JUDICIARY DEPARMENT. 

Art. 62. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
and injustices of the peace. 

Art. 63. The supreme court, except in 
cases hereinafter provided, shall have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed three hundred dol¬ 
lars, to all cases in which the constitution¬ 
ality of any tax, toll, or impost of any kind 
or nature soever, shall be in contestation, 
whatever may be the amount thereof; and 
likewise to all fines, forfeitures and penal¬ 
ties imposed by municipal corporations; 
and in criminal cases on questions of law 
alone, whenever the punishment of death 
or hard labor may be indicted, or when a 


fine exceeding three hundred dollars is ac¬ 
tually imposed. 

Art. 64. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate judges, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars, and each of the associate judges a sal¬ 
ary of five thousand five hundred dollars, 
annually. The said court shall appoint 
its own clerks. The said judges shall be 
appointed for the term of eight years. 

Art. 65. When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for the term of 
eight years, one of the associate judges for 
six years, one for four years and one for 
two years; and in the event of the death, 
resignation, or removal of any of said 
judges, before the expiration of the period 
for which he was appointed, his successor 
shall be appointed only for the remainder* 
of his term: so that the term of office of 
no two of said judges shall expire at the 
same time. 

Art. 66. The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in New Orleans from the first 
Monday of the month of November to the 
end of the month of June, inclusive. The 
legislature shall have power to fix the ses¬ 
sions elsewhere during the rest of the 
year; until otherwise provided, the ses¬ 
sions shall be held as heretofore. 

Art. 67. The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof, shall have power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus , at the instance 
of all persons in actual custody under pro¬ 
cess, in all cases in which they may have 
appellate jurisdiction. 

Art. 68. In all cases in which the judges 
shall be equally dived in opinion, the judg¬ 
ment appealed from shall stand affirmed; 
in which case each of the judges shall 
give his separate opinion in writing. 

Art. 69. All judges, by virtue of their 
office, shall be conservators of the peace 
throughout the State. The style of all 
process shall be “the State of Louisiana.” 
All prosecutions shall be carried on “ in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana,” and conclude “against the 
peace and dignity of the same.” 

Art. 70. The judges of all courts with¬ 
in this State shall, as often as it is possible 
so to do, in every definitive judgment, re- 





299 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


fer to th^articular law in virtue of which 
such judgment may be rendered, and in 
all cases adduce the reasons on which such 
judgment is founded. 

Art. 71. No court or judge shall make 
any allowance by way of fee or compen¬ 
sation in any suit or proceedings, except 
for the payment of such fees to the minis¬ 
terial officers as may be established by¬ 
law. 

Art. 72. No duties or functions shall 
ever be attached by law to the supreme or 
district courts, or to the several judges 
thereof, but such as are judicial; and the 
said judges are prohibited from receiving 
any fees of office, or other compension 
than their salaries for any civil duties per¬ 
formed by them. 

Art. 73. The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be suffi¬ 
cient ground for impeachment, the govern¬ 
or shall remove - any of them, on the ad¬ 
dress of three-fourths of the members pre¬ 
sent of each house of the general assem¬ 
bly. In every such case, the cause or 
causes for which such removal may be re¬ 
quired, shall be stated at length in the ad' 
dress, and inserted in the journal of each 
house. 

Art. 74. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many district 
attorneys as may be hereafter found neces ¬ 
sary. They shall hold their offices for 
two years; their duties shall be determined 
by law. 

Art. 75. The first legislature assem¬ 
bled under this constitution, shall divide 
the State into judicial districts, which shall 
remain unchanged for six years, and be 
subject to reorganization every sixth year 
thereafter. 

The number of districts shell not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. 

For each district one judge, learned in 
the law shall be appointed, except in the 
district in which the cities ot New Orleans 
and Lafayette are situated, in which the 
legislature many establish as many district 
courts as the public interest may require. 

Art. 76. Each of the said judges shall 
receive a salary to be fixed by law, which 
shall not be increased or diminished dur¬ 
ing his term of office, and shall never bo 
less than two thousand five hundred dol¬ 
lars annually. He must be a citizen of 


the United States, over the age of thirty 
years, and have resided in the State for six 
years next preceding his appointment, and 
have practiced law therein for the space of 
five years. 

Art. 77. The judges of the district 
courts shall hold their offices for the term 
of six years. The judges first appointed 
shall be divided by ballot into three class¬ 
es, as nearly equal as can be; and the term 
of office of the judges of the first class 
shall expire at the end of two years, of 
the second class at the end of four years, 
and of the third class at the end of six 
years. 

Art. 78. The district courts shall have 
original jurisdiction in all civil cases when 
the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, 
exclusive of interest. In all criminal ca¬ 
ses, and in all matters connected with suc¬ 
cessions, their jurisdiction shall be unlim¬ 
ited. 

Art. 79. The legislature shall have 
power to vest in clerks of courts authority 
to grant such orders, and do such acts as 
may be deemed necessary for the further¬ 
ance of the administration of justice; and 
in all cases the powers thus granted shall 
be specified and determined. 

Art. 80. The clerks of the several 
courts snail be removable, for breach of 
good behavior, by the judges thereof; 
subject in all cases to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Art. 81. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed in civil cases 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the dis¬ 
trict court in such cases as shall be provid¬ 
ed for by law. They shall be elected by 
the qualified voters of each parish, for the 
term of two years, and shall have such 
criminal jurisdiction as shall be provided 
for by law. 

Art. 82. Clerks of the disirfet courts 
in this State shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied electors in each parish for the term of 
four years, and should a vacancy occur sub¬ 
sequent to an election, it shall be filled 1 y 
the judge of the court in which such vacat - 
cy exists, and the person so appointed sha 1 
hold his office until the next general elec¬ 
tion. 

Art. 83. A sheriff and a coroner shall 
be elected in each parish, by the qualified 
voters thereof, who shall hold their office*' 




300 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


for the term of two years, unless sooner 
removed. 

Should a vacancy occur in either of these 
offices subsequent to an election, it shall be 
filled by the governor; and the person so 
appointed shall continue in office until his 
successor shall be elected and qualified. 

On motion the report of the committee 
of revision on the executive department 
was taken up for third reading and adopted, 
viz : 

TITLE III. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 38. The supreme executive pow- 
er of the State shall be vested in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the gover¬ 
nor of the State of Louisiana. He shall 
hole his office during the term of four years; 
and together with the lieutenant governor 
chosen for the same term, be elected as 
follows:—-The qualified electors for repre¬ 
sentatives, shall vote for a governor and 
lieutenani governor, at the time and place 
of voting for representatives; the returns of 
every election shall be sealed up and trans¬ 
mitted by the proper returning officer to 
the secretary of state; who shall cjeiiver 
them to the speaker of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives on the second day of the session 
of the general assembly, then next to be 
holden. The members of the general as¬ 
sembly shall meet in the house of repre¬ 
sentatives, to examine and count the votes. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for governor shall be declared duly 
elected, but if two or more persons shall be 
equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled for governor, one of them shall im¬ 
mediately be chosen governor by joint vote i 
of the members of the general assembly. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for lieutenant governor shall be lieu¬ 
tenant governor, but if two or more per¬ 
sons shall be equal and highest in the num¬ 
ber of voles polled for lieutenant governor, 
one of them shall be immediately chosen 
lieutenant governor by joint vote of the 
members of the general assembly. 

&rt. 39. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age olj 
thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, and a resident 
within this State for the same space of time 
next preceding his election. 

Art. 40. The governor shall enter on 


the discharge of his duties on J^he fourth 
Monday of January next ensuing his elec¬ 
tion, and shall continue in office until the 
Monday next succeeding the day that his 
successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and shall have taken the oath or 
affirmation prescribed by this Constitution. 

Art. 41. The governor shall be ineligi¬ 
ble for the succeeding four years after the 
expiration of the time for which he shall 
have been elected. 

Art. 42. No member of congress or 
person holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious society, 
shall be eligible to the office of governor or 
lieutenant governor. 

Art. 43. In case of the impeachment 
of the governor, his removal from office, 
death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the State, the pow¬ 
ers and duties of the office shall devolve 
upon the lieutenant governor for the resi¬ 
due of the term, or until the governor, ab¬ 
sent or impeached, shall return or be ac¬ 
quitted. The legislature may provide by 
law for the case of removal, impeachment, 
death, resignation, disability; or refusal to 
qualify, of both the governor and lieutenant 
governor, declaring what officer shall act 
as governor, and such officer shall act ac¬ 
cordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or for the residue of the term. 

Art. 44. The lieutenant governor, or 
other officer discharging the duties of gov¬ 
ernor, shall, during his administration, re¬ 
ceive the same compensation to which the 
governor would have been entitled, had he 
continued in office. 

Art. 45. The lieutenant governor shall, 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate the sena¬ 
tors shall elect one of their own members 
as president of the senate for the time 
being. 

Art. 46. While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of rep¬ 
resentatives, and no more. 

Art. 47. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach? 








301 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


ment, shall, with the consent of the senate, 
have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In 
cases of treason he may grant reprieves, 
until the end of the next session of the gen¬ 
eral assembly, in which the power of par¬ 
doning shall be vested. 

Art. 48. The governor shall at stated 
times receive for his services a compensa¬ 
tion, which shall neither be increased or 
diminished during the term for which he 
shall have been elected. 

Art. 49. He shall be communder-in- 
chief of the army and navy of this State 
and of the militia thereof, except when 
they shall be called into the service of the 
United States. 

Art. 50. He shall nominate, and by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
appoint all officers whose offices are es¬ 
tablished by this constitution, and whose 
appointment is not therein otherwise pro¬ 
vided for: Provided, however, that the 
legislature shall have a right to prescribe 
the mode of appointment to all other offices 
established by law. 

Art. 51. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of 
the next session, unless otherwise provided 
for in this constitution; but no person who 
has been nominated for office, and rejected 
by the senate, shall be appointed to the 
same office during the recess of the senate 

Art. 52. He may require information 
in writing from the officers in the execu¬ 
tive department, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices. 

Art. 53. He shall from time to time, 
give to the general assembly information 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 

Art. 54. He may on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place if that should become dangerous from 
an enemy or from epidemics; and in case 
of disagreemet between the two houses as 
to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he may think proper, 
not exceeding four months. 

Art. 55 . He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

Art. 56. Every bill which shall have 


passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if lie approve he shall sign 
it, it not, he shall return it with his ob¬ 
jections to the house in which it origina¬ 
ted, which shall enter the objections at 
large upon its journal, and proceed to re¬ 
consider it; if after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of all the members elected to 
that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent with the objections to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house, 
it shall be a law; but in such cases the vote 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names of the members 
voting for and against the bill, shall be en¬ 
tered on the journal of each house respec¬ 
tively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the governor within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) afier it shall have been presented 
to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the general as¬ 
sembly by adjournment, prevent its return; 
in which case it shall bea law, unless sent 
back within three days after their next 
meeting. 

Art. 57. Every order, resolution or vote 
to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary, except on a question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the gov¬ 
ernor, and before it shall take effect, be 
approved (by him, or being disapproved, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
members elected to each house of the gen¬ 
eral assembly. 

Art. 58. There shall be a secretary of 
state, who shall hold his office during the 
time for which the governor shall have 
been elected. The records of the State 
shall be kept and preserved in the office ot 
the secretary; he shall keep a fair register 
of the official acts and proceedings of the 
governor, and when necessary shall attest 
them. He shall, when required, lay the 
said register, and all papers, minutes and 
vouchers relative to his office, before either 
house of the general assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be en¬ 
joined on him by law. 

Art. 59. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, and shall be sealed with the 
State seal and signed by the governor. 

Art. 60. The free white men of the 
State shall be armed and disciplined for 




302 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


its defence; but those who belong to reli¬ 
gious societies whose tenets forbid them to 
carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, 
but shall pay an equvalent for personal ser¬ 
vices. 

Art. 61. The militia of the* State shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most expedient by the 
legislature. 

On motion of Mr. Head, acting chair¬ 
man of the committee on contingent ex¬ 
penses, the report offered by him and laid 
on the table subject to call, was taken up, 
viz : 

The committee on contingent expenses 
have carefully examined the claims pre¬ 
sented by Jerome Bayon, and by Messrs. 
Besangon, Ferguson & Co., and have 
come to the conclusion that the sum of 
three thousand dollars should be allowed 
to Mr. Jerome Bayon, in full payment for 
all printing (including subscription for the 
paper) already done and remaining to be 
done; and that the sum of three thousand 
three hundred and sixty dollars should 
be allowed Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson 
& Co., in full payment for all printing 
(including subscription for paper) already 
done and remaining to be done; and the 
committee recommend that said sums be 
paid to the printers, deducting therefrom 
the sunt of five hundred dollars paid_to Mr. 
Bayon, and the sum of twelve hundred and 
fifty dollars paid to Messrs. Besangon, Fer¬ 
guson & Co., and that the said committee be 
authorised to issue a warrant in favor of Mr. 
Jerome Bayon, for the sum of two thou¬ 
sand five hundred dollars, and a warrant 
in favor of Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson & 
Co., for the sum of two thousand one 
hundred and ten dollars,—these being the 
amounts allowed after making the above 
deductions. 

(Signed,) A. READ, 

J. P. BENJAMIN, 

L. SAUNDERS, 

C. ROSELIUS. 

Mr. Lewis moved to amend said report, 
by adding at the end of the same the words 
“and that the warrants shall not be deliv¬ 
ered to the printers for the debates and 
journal until they are delivered to the sec¬ 
retary,” which amendment was adopted— 
and the report as amended was adopted. 

Mr. Brent offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, viz : 


Resolved, That an additional compen¬ 
sation of five hundred dollars be allowed 
Messrs. Besangon, Ferguson & Co., prin¬ 
ters in English to the Convention. 

Mr. Chinn moved to lay the above reso¬ 
lution on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Aubert , Benjamin, Burton, Brum¬ 
field, Chinn, Covillion, Dunn, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Labauve, MeCallop, Penn, Scott of 
Baton Rouge, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor of 
Assumption and Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—-17 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Beatty , Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Cade, Carriere, Cenas, Chambliss, Covil¬ 
lion, Downs, Eustis, Guion, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Ledoux, Legendre, Lewis, McRae, 
Marigny, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roman, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Madison, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill, Wederstrandt and Winder 
voted in the negative—35 nays ; conse¬ 
quently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved for the adoption of 
the resolution. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Cenas, 
Chambliss, Covillion, Downs, Eustis, Gar - 
rett, Humble, Hynson, Labauve, Ledoux, 
MeCallop, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, Peets, 
Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge Scott of Madison, Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the affirmative—28 yeas; and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Bourg, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Conrad of Jeffer¬ 
son, Dunn, Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, Penn, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, Saunders, Sellers, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry and Winchester voted in 
the negative—23 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried, and the resolution 
adopted. 

Mr. Mayo offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz : 

Resolved, That the treasurer be directed 
to retain from the funds appropriated for 
the use of the Convention, an amount suf¬ 
ficient to pay the printers’ claims for the 
debates and journals of the Convention. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 9 o’clock. 



Jour nal of the Convention of Louisiana. 303 


Tuesday, May 13, 1845. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings by prayer. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

Mr. Read submitted thet ollowing reso¬ 
lution, and the same was adopted—viz : 

Resolved , That the committee on contin¬ 
gent expenses be authorized to issue war¬ 
rants in favor of Auguste Brusle, for the 
sum of ninety-eight dollars and twenty five 
cents ; in favor of A. G. Penn, (for post¬ 
age,) for the sum of one hundred and one 
dollars ; in favor of J. L. Vignaud (for wind¬ 
ing and keeping in ordnr the clock,) for the 
sum often dollars ; in favor of B. M. Nor¬ 
man, bookseller and stationer, for the sum 
of nine dollars and forty cents ; in favor of 
James Carpenter, for hire of Leon, to at¬ 
tend Hall &c., tweifty-two dollars up to and 
including the 14th inst. in favor ofC. Lar- 
rien, (for ice,) for fourteen dollars. 

On motion the schedule as reported by 
the committee of revision, was taken up for 
its second reading and adopted—viz : 
TITLE IX. 

SCHEDULE. 

Art. 141. The Constitution adopted in 
1812 is declared to be superseded by this 
Constitution, and in order to carry the same 
into effect, it is hereby declared and ordain¬ 
ed as folllows : 

Art. 142. All rights, actions, prosecu¬ 
tions, claims and contracts, as well of indi¬ 
viduals as of bodies corporate, and all laws 
in force at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith 
shall continue as if the same had not been 
adopted. 

Art. 143. Until the first enumeration 
shall be made as directed in article eighth, 
of this Constitution, the parish of Orleans 
shall have twenty representatives, to be 
elected as follows, viz: 

Eight by the First Municipality, seven 
by the Second Municipality, and four by 
the Third Municipality, to be distributed 
among the nine representative districts as 
follows, by allotting to the 


First district, 

two Rep. 

Second 

<( 

two 

Third 

(< 

three 

Fourth 

a 

three 

Fifth 

a 

three 

Sixth 

a 

two 


Seventh district, 

two 

Eighth 


one 

Ninth 

it 

one 

And to that part of the parish 

on the right 

ank of the Mississippi, 

one 

The parish of Plaquemines, 


rail have 


three 


St. Bernard, 

one 

ti 

Jefferson, 

three 

ii 

St. Charles, 

one 

ii 

St. John the Baptist, one 

( i 

St. James, 

two 

it 

Ascension, 

two 

ii 

Assumption, 

three 

ii 

Lafourche Interior, 

three 

il 

Terrebone, 

two 

1 t 

Iberville, 

two 

ii 

West Baton Rouge, one 

il 

East do. 

three 

ti 

West Feliciana, 

two 

ii 

East do 

three 

ii 

St. Helena, 

one 

ii 

W ashington, 

one 

ii 

Livingston, 

St. Tammany, 

one 

it 

one 

ii 

Point Coupee, 

one 

if 

Concordia, 

one 


Tensas, 

one • 

ii 

Madison, 

one 

ti 

Carroll, 

one 

il 

Franklin, 

one 


St. Mary, 

two 

ti 

St. Martin, 

three 

ii 

Vermillion, 

one 

if 

Lafayette, 

two 

ii 

St. Landry, 

five 

ii 

Calcasieu, 

one 

a 

Avoyelles 

two 

a 

Rapides, 

three 

a 

Natchitoches, 

three 

it 

Sabine, 

two 

ii 

Caddo, 

one 

ti 

De Soto, 

one 

a 

Ouachita, 

one 

ti 

Morehouse, 

one 

it 

Union 

one 

ti 

Jackson, 

one 

ii 

Caldwell, 

one 

it 

Catahoula, 

two 

it 

Claiborne, 

two 

it 

Bossier, 

one 


Total, ninety-eight. 

And the State shall be divided into the 
following senatorial districts: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 





304 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators; 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the right bank of the river, 
shall compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district with one senator; 

The parishes of Assumptton, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators; 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator; 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
one distrtct, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators; 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 


house and Ouachita shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

And whenever a new parish shall be crea¬ 
ted,it shall be attached to the senatorial dis¬ 
trict from which most of its territory was 
taken or to another contiguous district at 
thediscretion of the legislature, but shall not 
be attached to more than one district. 

Art. 144. In order that no inconveni¬ 
ence may result to the public service from 
the taking effect of this Constititution, no 
office shall be superseded thereby ; but the 
laws of the State relative to the duties of 
the several officers, executive, judicial and 
military, shall remain in full force, though 
the same be contrary to this Constitution, 
and the several duties shall be performed 
by the respective officers of the State accor¬ 
ding to the existing laws, until the organi¬ 
zation of the government under this Con¬ 
stitution, and the entering into office of the 
new officers, to be appointed under said 
government, and no longer. 

Art. 145- Appointments to office by 
the executive under this Constitutton, shall 
be made by the governor to be elected un-* 
der its authority. 

Art. 146. The provisions of article 28, 
concerning the inability of members of the 
legislature to hold certain offices therein 
mentioned, shall not be held to apply to 
the members of the first legislature elected 
unde r this Constitution. 

Art. 147. The time of service of all of¬ 
ficers chosen by the people, at the first 
election under this Constitution, shall ter¬ 
minate as though the election had been hol- 
den on the first Monday of November 
1845, and they had entered on the discharge 
of their duties at the time designated therein. 

Art. 148. The legislature shall provide 
for the removal of #11 causes now pending 




305 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


in the supreme or other courts of the 
courts under the Constitution of 1812, to 
State created by this Constitution. 

Art. 149. Appeals to the supreme 
court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, 
Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachi¬ 
ta, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, 
and Concoreia, shall until otherwise provi- 
dod for, be returnable to New Orleans. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, the report of the committee of revis¬ 
ion on the legislative department was 
taken up, viz: 

TITLE II. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 3. The legislative powers of the 
State shall be vested in two distinct branch¬ 
es, the one to be styled the “house of rep¬ 
resentatives,” the other “the senate,” and 
both “the general assembly of the State 
of Louisiana.” 

Art. 4. The members of the house of 
representatives shall continue in service 
for the term of two years from the day of 
the closing of the general elections. 

Art. 5. Representatives shall be chosen 
on the first Monday in November, every 
two years; and the election shall be com¬ 
pleted in one day. The general assembly 
shall meet every second year, on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion, unless a different day be appointed 
by law, and their session shall be held at 
the seat of government. 

Art. 6 . No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative, who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male, and has not been for 
three years a citizen of the United States, 
and has not attained the age of twenty-one 
years, and resided in the State for the three 
years next preceding the election, and the 
last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen. 

Art. 7. Elections for representatives 
for the several parishes or representative 
districts shall be held at the several elec¬ 
tion precincts established by law. The 
legislature may delegate the power of es¬ 
tablishing election precincts to the paro¬ 
chial or municipal authorities. 

Art. 8. Representation in the house of 
representatives, shall be equal and uniform, 
and shall be regulated and ascertained by 
the number of qualified electors. Each 
parish shall have at l^ast one representa¬ 
tive; no new parish shall be created with 
39 


a territory less than six hundred and twen¬ 
ty-five square miles, ner with a number ot 
electors less than the full number entitling 
it to a representative, nor when the crea¬ 
tion of such new parish would leave any 
other parish without the said extent of ter¬ 
ritory and number of electors. 

The first enumeration to be made by the 
State authorities under this constitution 
shall be made in the year 1847, the second 
in the year 1855; and the subsequent enu¬ 
merations shall be made every tenth year 
thereafter, in such m liner as shall be pre¬ 
scribed by law for the purpose of ascer¬ 
taining the total population and the number 
of qualified electors in each parish and 
election district. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each enumera¬ 
tion, the legislature shall apportion the re¬ 
presentation amongst the several parishes 
and election districts on the basis of quali¬ 
fied electors as aforesaid. A representa¬ 
tive number shall be fixed, and each parish 
and election district shall have as many 
representatives as the aggregate number 
of its electors will entitle it to, and an 
additional representative for any fraction 
exceeding one half the representative 
number. The number of representatives 
shall not be more than one hundred nor 
less than seventy. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
shall be divided into nine representative 
districts, as follows, viz : 

1st. First district to extend from the line 
of the parish of Jefferson to the middle of 
Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district to extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of 
Julia street, until it strikes the New Or¬ 
leans canal, thence down said canal to the 
lake. 

3d. Third district to comprise the resi¬ 
due of the Second Municipality. 

4th. Fourth district to extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of 
St. Louis street, until it reaches the Me¬ 
tairie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district to extend from the last 
mentioned limits to the middle of St. Philip 
street, thence down said street until its in¬ 
tersection with the bayou St. John, thence 
along the middle of said bayou until it in- 






306 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana .' 


terseols the Metairie road, thence along said 
road until it reaches St. Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district to be composed of the 
residue of the First Municipality. 

7th. Seventh district, from the middle 
Esplanade street to the middle of Champs 
Elysees street. 

8th. Eighth district, from the middle of 
Champs Elysees street to the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue. 

9th. Ninth district, from the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue to 
the lower limits of the parish. 

Art. 9. The house of representatives 
shall choose its speaker and other officers. 

Art. 10. In all elections by the people, 
every free white male who has attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided 
in the State two consecutive years next 
preceding the election, and the last year 
thereof in the parish in which he offers 
to vote, shall have the right of voting. 
Provided , that no person shall be deprived 
of the right of voting who at the time of 
the adoption of this constitution was enti¬ 
tled to that right under the constitution of 
1812. Electors shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony, breach or surety of the 
peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at, going !o, or returning 
from elections. 

Art. 11. Absence from the State for more 
than ninety consecutive days, shall inter¬ 
rupt the acquisition of the residence requi¬ 
red in the preceding article, unless the 
person absenting himself shall be a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on business, and his dwelling house 
or tenementfor carrying on business shall 
be actually occupied during his absence, by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by someone employed by him. 

Art. 12. No soldier, seaman or marine 
in the army or navy of the United States, 
no pauper, no person under interdiction, nor 
under conviction of any crime punishable 
with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote 
at any election in the State. 

Art. 13. No person shall be entitled to 
vote at any election held in this State, ex¬ 
cept in the parish of his residence, and in 
cities and towns divided into election pre¬ 
cincts, in the election precinct in which 
he resides. 

Art. 14 . The members of the senate 
shall be chosen for the term of four years. 


The senate when assembled, shall have 
the power to choose its officers every two 
years. 

Art. 15. The legislature in every year ill 
which they shall apportion representation in 
the house of representatives shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district, the parish of Orleans ex¬ 
cepted. And whenever a new parish shall 
be created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of its ter¬ 
ritory was taken, or to another contiguous 
district, at the discretion of the legislature; 
but shall not be attached to more than one 
district. The number of senators shall be 
thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned 
among the senatorial districts according to 
the total population contained in the seve¬ 
ral districts: Provided ., that no parish shall 
be entitled to more than one-eighth of the 
whole number of senators. 

Art. 16. In all apportionments of the 
senate, the population of the city of New 
Orleans shall be deducted from the popu¬ 
lation of the whole State, and the remain¬ 
der of the population divided by the number 
twenty eight, and the result produced by 
this division shall be the senatorial ratio 
entitling a senatorial district to a senator. 
Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the number entitling 
a district to a senator; and if in the appor¬ 
tionment to be made, a parish or district 
fall short of or exceed the ratio, one-fifth, 
then a district may be formed having not 

V O 

more than two senators, but not otherwise. 

No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment. 

After an enumeration has been made as 
directed in the eighth article, the legisla¬ 
ture shall not pass any laws until an ap¬ 
portionment of the representation in both 
houses of the general assembly be made. 

Art. 17. At the first session of the 
general assembly, after this constitution 
takes effect, the senators shall be equally 
divided by lot into two classes ; the seats 
of the senators of the first class shall be va¬ 
cated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year; so that one-half shall be chosen 
every two years, and a rotation thereby kep 






Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 307 


up perpetually. In case any district shall 
have elected two or more senators, said 
senators shall vacate their seats respective¬ 
ly at the end of two and four years, and 
the lots shall be drawn between them. 

Art. 18. No person shall be a senator, 
who at the time of his election, has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and who has not attained the age of 
twenty.seven years,and resided in the State 
four' years next preceding his election, 
and the last year thereof in the district in 
which he may be chosen. 

Art. 19. The first election for senators 
shall be general throughout the State, and 
at the same time that the general election 
for representatives is held; and thereafter 
there shall be biennial elections to fill the 
place of those whpse time of service may 
have expired. 

Art. 20. Not less than a majority of the 
members of each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall form a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and shall be authorised by 
law to compel the attendance of absent 
members. 

Art. 21 . Each house of the general 
assembly shall judge of the qualification, 
election and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Art. 22. Each house of the general 
Assembly may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish a member for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two-thirds expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same offence. 

Art. 23. Each house of the general as- 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings; and the yeas 
and nays of the members on any question 
shall, at the desire of any two of them, be 
entered on the journal. 

Art. 24. Each house may punish by im¬ 
prisonment any person not a member, tor 
disrespectful and disorderly behavior, in 
its presence or for obstructing any ot its 
proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not 
exceed ten days for any one offence. 

Art. 25. Neither house, during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly, shall without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which they may be sitting. 

Art. 26. The members of the general 


assembly shall receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during 
their attendance, going to and returning 
from the session of their respective houses. 
The compensation may be increased or 
diminished by law; but no alteration shall 
take effect during the period of service of 
the members of the house of representa- 
fives by whom such alterations shall have 
been made. No session shall extend to a 
period beyond sixty days, to date from its 
commencement, and any legislative action 
had after the expiration of the said sixty 
days, shall be null and void. This pro¬ 
vision shall not apply to the first legisla¬ 
ture which is to convene after the adoption 
of this constitution. 

Art. 27. The members of the general 
assembly shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at the sessions of their respective 
houses; and going to or returning from the 
same, and for any speech or debate in 
either house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Art. 28. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during the time 
such senator or representative was in 
office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of 
the people. 

Art. 29. No person, while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest or teacher of any religious persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to 
the general assembly. 

Art. 30. No person who at any time 
may have been a collector of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly, or to any other office of 
profit or trust under the State government, 
until lie shall have obtained a discharge 
for the amount of such collections, and for 
all public moneys with which he may 
have been entrusted. 

Art. 31. No bill shall have the force of 
a law until on three several days, it be read 
over in each house of the ge no 3 assem 




308 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


bly, and free diseussion allowed thereon, 
unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the 
house, where the bill shall be pending, may 
deem it expedient to dispense with this rule. 

Art. 32. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives, but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments as in other bills; provided , they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment which does not 
relate to raising revenue. 

Art. 33. The general assembly shall 
.regulate by law, by whom, and in what 
manner, writs of election shall be issued, 
to till the vacancies which may happen in 
either branch thereof. 

Art. 34. A majority of all the members 
elected to the senate, shall be required for 
the confirmation or rejection of officers to 
be appointed by the governor, with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the senate; and the 
.senate in deciding thereon, shall vote by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the sena¬ 
tors voting for and against the appoint¬ 
ments respectively, shall be entered on a 
journal to be kept for that purpose, and 
made public at the end of each session, or 
before. 

Art. 35. Returns of all elections for 
members of the general assembly shall be 
made to the secretary of state. 

Art. 38, A treasurer of the State shall 
be elected biennially, by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the general assembly. The 
governor shall have the power to fill any 
vacancy that may happen in that office 
during the recess of the legislature. 

Art. 37. In the year in which a regular 
election of a senator of the United States 
is to take plucc, the members of the gene¬ 
ral assembly shall meet in the hall of the 
house of representatives, on the Monday 
following the meeting of the legislature, 
and proceed to the said election. 

Mr. Claiborne moved to amend the fifth- 
teenth article by striking out the proviso 
which authorizes the legislature to divide 
the city of New Orleans into different 
senatorial districts. The yeas and nays 
being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bri¬ 
an!, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Guion, Ta- 
bauve, Legendre, Marigny Mazureau, 
Pugh, Roman, St. Amand, Saunders and 


Winchester voted in the affirmative—24 
yeas ; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, Bur¬ 
ton, Cade, Carrier©, Chambliss, DuBou- 
chel, Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Read, Scott of Madison, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Sou¬ 
le, Splane, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St Landry, Waddill, Wadsworth 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative— 
32 nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent moved to lay the eleventh 
article on the table indefinitely. The 
yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Cade, Carrier©, 
Chambliss, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garcia, 
Humble, Hynson, McRae, Marigny, Mayo, 
Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Read, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt, voted in the af¬ 
firmative—25 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chinn, 
Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, Legendre, 
Lewis, McCallop, Mazureau, Prescott of 
St. Landry, Pugh, Roman, Saunders, Sel¬ 
lers, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. 
Landry and Wadsworth, voted in the nega¬ 
tive—31 nays; consequently said motion 
was lost. 

Mr. Conrad of New Orleans moved 
to amend the tenth article, by inserting in 
the first line , after the word “ male,” the 
words “who has been two years a citizen 
of the United States.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Brent, Briant Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Cenas, Chinn, Claiborne, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, 
Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, Labuuve, Le¬ 
gendre, Lewis, McCallop, Mavo, Mazu- 
reau, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pres¬ 
cott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pugh, 
Roman, St. Amand, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, 
Winchester and Winder voted in the affir¬ 
mative—45 yeas; and 









309 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


Messrs. Brazeale, DuBouchel, Garcia, 
Humble, McRae, Marigny, Porter, Read, 
Soule, Splane and Waddill voted in the 
negative —11 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried, and the section was adop¬ 
ted, as amended, viz: 

TITLE II. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 3. The legislative power of the 
State shall be vested in two distinct brach- 
es, the one to be styled “the house of rep¬ 
resentatives,” the other “the senate,” and 
both “the general assembly of the State of 
Louisiana-” 

Art. 4. The members of the house of 
representatives shell continue in service for 
the term of two years from the day of the 
closing of the general elections. 

Art. 5. Representatives shall be cho¬ 
sen on the first Monday in November, ev¬ 
ery two years, and the election shall be 
completed in one day. The general as¬ 
sembly shall meet every second year, on 
the third Monday in January next ensuing 
the election, unless a different day be ap¬ 
pointed dy law, and their session shall be 
held at the seat of government. 

Art. 6 . No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male, and has not been 
for three years a citizen of the United 
States, and has not attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the State 
for the three years next preceding the elec¬ 
tion, and the last year thereof in the par¬ 
ish for which he may be chosen. 

Art. 7. Elections for representatives 
for the several parishes or representative 
districts shall be held at the several elec¬ 
tion precincts established by law. The 
legislature may delegate the power of es¬ 
tablishing election precincts to the paro¬ 
chial or municipal authorities. 

Art. 8. Representation in the house of 
representatives, shall be equal and uniform 
and shall be regulated and ascertained by 
the number of qualified electors. Each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive. No new parish shall be created with 
a territory less than six hundred and twen¬ 
ty-five square miles, nor with a number of 
electors less than the full number entitling 
it to a representative, nor when the crea¬ 
tion of such new parish would leave any 
other parish without the said xtent of ter¬ 
ritory and number of electors. 


The first enumeration to be made by the 
State authorities under this constitution 
shall be made in the year 1847, the second 
in the year 1855, and the subsequent enu¬ 
meration shall be made every tenth year 
thereafter, in such manner as shall be Dre- 
scribed by law; for the purpose of ascer¬ 
taining the total population and the num¬ 
ber of qualified electors in each parish and 
election district. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each enumera¬ 
tion, the legislature shall apportion the rep¬ 
resentation amongst the several parishes 
and election districts on the basis of qual¬ 
ified electors, as aforesaid. A representa¬ 
tive number shall be fixed, and each parish 
and election district shall have as many 
representatives as the aggregate number of 
its electors will entitle it to, and an addi¬ 
tional representative for any fraction ex¬ 
ceeding one half the representative num¬ 
ber. The number of representatives shall 
not be more than one hundred nor less than 
seventy. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi 
shall be divided into nine representative dis¬ 
tricts, as follows, viz: 

1st. First district to extend from the 
line of the parish of Jefferson to the mid¬ 
dle of Benjamin, Estelle, and Thalia 
streets. 

2d # Second district to extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of Ju¬ 
lia street, until it strikes the New Orleans 
canal, thence down said canal to the lake. 

3d. Third district to comprise the resi¬ 
due of the second municipality. 

4th. Fourth district to extend from the 
middle of canal street to the middle of St. 
Louis street, until it reaches the Metairie 
road, thence along said road to the New 
Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district to extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of St. 
Philip street, thence down said street until 
its intersection with the bayou St. John, 
thence along the middle of said bayou until 
it intersects the Metairie road, thence along 
said road until it reaches St. Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district to be composed of 
the residue of the first municipality. 

7th. Seventh district from the middle 
of Esplanade street to the middle of 
Champs Elysees street. 




310 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


8th. Eighth district from the middle 
of Champs Elysees street to the middle 
of Enghien street and Lafayette avenue. 

9th. Ninth district from the middle of 
.Enghien street and Layfayette avenue to 
the lower limits of the parsh. 

Art. 9. The house of representatives 
shall choose its speaker and other ol- 
iicers. 

Art. 10. In all elections by the people 
every free white male who has been two 
years a citizen of the United States, who 
has attained the age of twenty-one years, 
and resided'in the State two consecutive 
years next preceding the election, and the 
last year thereof m the parish in which he 
offers to vote, shall have the right of vo¬ 
ting: Provided, that no person shall be de¬ 
prived of the right of voting who at the 
time of the adoption of this constitution 
was entitled to that right under the consti¬ 
tution of 1812. Electors shall, in all ca¬ 
ses except treason, felony, breach or sure¬ 
ty of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
during their attendance at, going to or re¬ 
turning from elections. 

Art. 11. Absence from the State for 
more than ninety consecutive daya shall 
interrupt the acquisition of the residence 
required in the preceding article, unless 
the person absenting himself shall be a 
liouse-keeeper. or shall occupy a tenement 
for carrying on business, and his dwelling 
house or tenement for carrying on business 
shall be actually occupied during his ab¬ 
sence, by his family or servants, or some 
portion tlieref, or by some one employed 
by him. 

Art. 12. No soldier, seaman or ma¬ 
rine in the army or navy of the United 
States, uo pauper, nor person under inter¬ 
diction, nor under conviction of any crime 
punishable with hard labor, shall be entitled 
to vote at any election in this State. 

Art. 13. No person shall be entitled 
to vote at any election held in this State, 
except in the parish of his residence, and 
in cities and towns divided into election 
precincts, in the election precinct in which 
lie resides. 

Art. 14. The members of the senate 
shall be chosen for the term of four years. 
The senate, when assembled, shall have 
the power to choose its officers every two 
years. 

Art. 15. The legislature in every year 


in which they shall apportion represeta- 
tion in the house of representatives shall 
divide the State into senatorial districts. 
No parish shall be divided in the formation 
of senatorial districts, the parish of Or¬ 
leans excepted. And whenever a new par¬ 
ish shall be created it shall be attached to 
the senatorial district from which most of 
its territory was taken, or to another con¬ 
tiguous district, at the discretion of the 
legislature; but 'shall not be attached to 
mroe than one district. The number of 
senators shall be thirty two, and they shall 
be apportioned among the senatorial dis¬ 
tricts according to the total population 
contained in the several districts: Pro¬ 
vided, that no parish shall be entitled to 
more than one eighth of the whole num¬ 
ber of senators. 

Art. 16. In all apportionments of the sen¬ 
ate, the population of the city of New Or¬ 
leans shall be deducted from the population 
of the whole State, and the remainder of 
the population divided by the number twen¬ 
ty-eight, and the result produced by this 
division shall be the senatorial ratio enti¬ 
tling a district to a senator. Single or con- 
tinguous parishes shall be formed into dis¬ 
tricts having a population the nearest pos¬ 
sible to the number entitling a district to a 
senator; and if in the apportionment to be 
made, a parish or district fall short of or 
exceed the ratio, one-fifth, then a district 
may be formed having not more than two 
senators; but not otherwise. 

No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment. 

After an enumeration has been made as 
directed in the eighth article, the legisla- 
! ture shall not pass any laws until an ap¬ 
portionment of the representation in both 
houses of the general assembly shall be 
made. 

Art. 17. At the first session of the 
general assembly, after this constitution 
takes effect, the senators shall be equal¬ 
ly divided, by lot, into two classes; the 
! seats of the senators of the. first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the 
second year; of the second class at the 
expiration of the fourth year; so that one- 
half shall be chosen every two years, and 
a rotation thereby kept up perpetually.— 
[In case any district shall have elected two 







311 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


or more senators, said senators shall vacate 
their seats respectively at the end of two 
and four years, and the lots shall be drawn 
between them. 

Art. 18. No person shall be a senator 
who at the time of his election has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and who has not attained the age of 
twenty seven years, and resided in the 
State four years next preceding his elec¬ 
tion, and the last year thereof in the dis¬ 
trict in which he may be chosen. 

Art. 19. The lirst election for senators 
shall be general throughout the State, and 
at the same time that the election for rep¬ 
resentatives is held; and thereafter there 
shall be biennial elections to till the place 
of those whose time of service may have 
expired. 

Art. 20. Not less than a majority of 
the members of each house of the general 
assembly shall form a quorum to do busi¬ 
ness; but a smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day, and shall be authorized 
by law to compell the attendance of absent 
members. 

Art. 21 . Each house of the general 
assembly shall judge of the qualification, 
election and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Art. 22. Each house of the general 
assembly may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish a member for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two thirds, expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same offence. 

Art. 23. Each house of the general 
assembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings; and the yeas 
and nays of the members on any question 
shall, at the desire of any two of them, be 
entered on the journal. 

Art. 24. Each house may punish by 
imprisonment any person, not a member, 
for disrespectful and disorderly behavior 
in its presence, or for obstructing any of 
its proceedings. Such imprisonment shall 
not exceed ten days for any one offence. 

Art. 25. Neither house during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly, shall with¬ 
out the consent of the other, adjourn for 
more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which they may be sit. 
ting. 

Art. 20 . The members of the general 


assembly shall receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during 
their attendance, soing to and returning 
from the session of their respective houses. 
The compensation may be increased or 
diminished by law; but no alteration shall 
take effect during the period of service of 
the members of the house of representa¬ 
tives by' whom such alteretion shall have 
been made. No session shall extend to a 
period beyond sixty days, to date from its 
commencement, and any legislative action 
had after the expiration of the said sixty 
days, shall be null and void. This pro¬ 
vision shall not apply to the first legisla¬ 
ture which is to convene after the adoption 
of this constitution. 

Art. 27. The members of the general 
assembly shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their atten¬ 
dance at the sessions of their respective 
houses, going to and returning from the 
same; and for any speech or debate in ei¬ 
ther house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Art. 28. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created, or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during the time 
which such senator or representative was 
in office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of 
the people. 

Art. 29. No person while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest, or teacher of any religfous persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly. 

Art. 30. No person who at any time 
may have been a collector of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money, shall be eligible to the gen¬ 
eral assembly, or to any office of profit or 
trust under the State government, until lie 
shall have obtained a discharge for the 
amount of such collections, and for all pub¬ 
lic moneys with which he may have been 
entrusted. 

Art. 31. No bill shall have the force 
of a law until on three several days it be 
read over in each house of the general as- 




312 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


sembly, and free dismission allowed there- 
on, unless in ease of urgency, four-fifths 
of the house where the bill shall be pend¬ 
ing may deem it expedient to dispense 
with this rule. 

Art. 32. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives, but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments, as in other bills; provided they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment, which does 
not relate to the raising of revenue. 

Art. 33* The general assembly shall 
regulate by law, by whom, and in what 
manner writs of election shall be issued to 
fill the vacancies which may happen in ei¬ 
ther branch thereof. 

Art. 34. A majority of all the mem¬ 
bers elected to the senate shall be required 
for the conformation or rejection of of¬ 
ficers to be appointed by the governor, with 
the advice and consent of the senate; and 
the senate in deciding thereon, shall vote 
by yeas and nays, and the names of the 
senators voting for and against the appoint¬ 
ments respectively, shall be entered on a 
journal to kept for that purpose, and made 
public at the end of each session, or before. 

Art. 35. Returns of all elections for 
members of the general assembly shall be 
made to the secretary of State. 

Art. 35. A treasurer of the State shall 
be elected biennially, by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the general assembly. The 
governor shall have the power to fill any 
vacancy that may happen in that office 
during the recess of the legislature. 

Art. 37. In the year in which a reg¬ 
ular election of a senator of the United 
States is to take place, the members of the 
general assembly shall meet in the hall of 
the house of representatives, on the Mon¬ 
day following the meeting of the legisla¬ 
ture, and proceed to the said election. 

Mr. Winder submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

Resolved, that the question on the final 
passage of this constitution be taken to¬ 
morrow at twelve o’clock, m., and that if a 
majority of the votes be in favor of its pas¬ 
sage, that the same be adopted, and be 
signed by the president and such members 
of the Convention as may desire to sign it, 
and countersigned by the secretary. 

Mr. Conrad of Orleans moved to amend 
the same by striking out the words “and 


such members of the Convention as may 
desire to sign it;” which motion was lost. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said reso¬ 
lution by inserting after the words “twelve 
o’clock, m.,” the words “without debate;” 
which motion prevailed, and the resolution 
as amended was adopted, viz: 

“ Resolved , that the question on the final 
passage of this constitution be taken on to¬ 
morrow at twelve o’clock, in., without de¬ 
bate; and that if a majority of the votes be 
in favor of its passage, that the same be 
adopted, and be signed by the president and 
such members of the Convention as may 
desire to sign it, and attested by the secre¬ 
tary.” 

Evening Session, May 13, 1845. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, the general provisions were taken 
up for a third reading, viz: 

TITLE IV. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Art. 89. Members of the general as¬ 
sembly, and all officers, before they enter 
upon the duties of their offices shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : 

I (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States, and of this State; And I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I, being a citizen of this State, have 
not fought a duel with deadly weapons 
within this State, nor out. of it, nor have I 
sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel 
with deadly weapons, nor have acted as 
second in carrying a challenge, or aided, 
advised, or assisted any person thus of¬ 
fending, so help me God.” 

Art. 90. Treason against the State 
shall consist only in levying war against, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con¬ 
victed of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 

Art. 91. Every person shall be dis¬ 
qualified from holding any office of trust 
or profit in this State, who shall have been 
convicted of having given, or offered a 
bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 





313 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Art. 92. Laws shall be made to exclude 
from office and from the right of suffrage, 
those who shall hereafter be convicted of 
bribery, perjury, forgery, or othei* high 
crimes or misdemeanors. The privilege 
of free suffrage shall be supported by laws 
regulating elections, and prohibiting un¬ 
der adequate penalties all undue influence 
thereon from power, bribery, tumult or 
other improper practice. 

Art. 93. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in pursuance of spe¬ 
cific appropriations made by law, nor shall 
any appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be 
published annually, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Art. 94. It shall be the duty of the 
general assembly to pass such laws as 
may be necessary and proper to decide 
differences by arbrilration. 

Art. 95. All civil officers for the State 
at l&rge shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their 
offices at such places therein as may be 
required by law. No person shall be 
elected or appointed to any parish office 
who shall not have resided in such parish 
long enough before such election, or ap¬ 
pointment, to have acquired the right of 
voting in such parish; and no person shall 
be elected or appointed to any district 
office, who shall not have resided in such 
district, or an adjoining district, long 
enough before such appointment or elec¬ 
tion, to have acquird the right of voting in 
the same. 

Art. 96. The duration of all offices not 
fixed by this constitution shall never exceed 
four years. 

Art. 97. All civil officers, except the 
governor, and judges of the supreme and 
district courts, shall be removeable by an 
address of a majority of the members of 
both houses, except those the removal of 
whom has been otherwise provided for by 
this constitution. 

Art. 98. Absence on business of this 
State or of the United States, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
40 


| under the exceptions contained in this 
constitution. 

Art. 99. It shall be the duty of the 
legislature to provide by law for deductions 
from the salaries of public officers who 
may be guilty of a neglect of duty. 

Art. 100. The legislature shall point out 
the manner in which a person coming into 
the State shall declare his residence. 

Art. 101. In all elections by the peo¬ 
ple the vote shall be by ballot, and in all 
elections by the senate and house of repre¬ 
sentatives, jointly or separately, the vote 
shall be given viva voce. 

Art. 102. No member of congress, nor 
person holding or exercising any office of 
trust or profit under the United States, or 
either of them, or under any foreign power, 
shall be eligible as a member of the gene¬ 
ral assembly, or hold or exercise any office 
of trust or profit under the State. 

Art. 103. The laws, the public records 
and the judicial and legislative written 
proceedings of the State shall be promul¬ 
gated, preserved and conducted in the lan¬ 
guage in which the constitution of the 
United States is written. 

Art. 104. The secretary of the senate 
and clerk of the house of representatives 
shall be conversant with, the French and 
English languages; and members may ad¬ 
dress either house in the French or English 
language. 

Art. 105. The general assembly shall 
direct by law how persons who are now or 
may hereafter become sureties for public 
officers may be discharged from such 
suretyship. 

Art. 106. No power of suspending the 
laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 
by the legislature or its authority. 

Art. 107. Prosecutions shall be by in¬ 
dictment, or information. The accused 
shall have a speedy public trial by an im¬ 
partial jury of the vicinage; he shall not 
be compelled to give evidence against him¬ 
self; he shall have the right of being heard 
by himself or counsel; he shall have the 
right, unless he shall have fled from justice, 
of meeting the witnesses face to face, and. 
shall have compulsory process for obtain¬ 
ing witneses in his favor. 

Art. 108; All prisoners shall be baila¬ 
ble by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences, whero the proof is evident, or pro- 



314 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


sumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspend¬ 
ed, unless when in case of rebellion or in¬ 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Art. 109. No ex-post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall be passed; nor vested rights be di¬ 
vested, unless for purposes of public utility, 
and for adequate compensation previously 
made. 

Art. 110. The press shall be free. 
Every citizen may freely speak, write, and 
publish his sentiments on all subjects; being 
responsible for an abuse of this liberty. 

Art. 111. Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Art. 112. The general assembly which 
shall meet after the first election of repre¬ 
sentatives under this constitution, shall, 
within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route; and 
il on the Mississippi river, by the mean¬ 
ders of the jsame; and when so fixed, it 
shall not be removed without the consent 
of four-fifths of the members of both houses 
of the general assembly. The sessions 
shall be held in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 

Art. 113. The legislature shall not 
pledge the faith of the State for the payment 
of any bonds, bills or other contracts or 
obligations for the benefit or use of any 
person or persons, corporation or body 
politic whatever. But the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its outstanding obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, are not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

Art. 114. The aggregate amount of 
debts hereafter contracted by the legisla¬ 
ture, shall never exceed the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars, except in case 
of war to repel invasions or suppress in¬ 
surrections, unless the same be authorised 
by some law, for some single object or 
work, to be distinctly specified therein ; 
which laws shall provide ways and means, 
by taxation, for the payment of running in¬ 
terest during the whole time for which said 
debt shall be contracted, and for the full 


and punctual discharge at maturity of the 
capital borrowed, and said law shall be ir- 
rcpealable until principle and interest are 
fully paid and discharged, and shall not be 
put into execution until after its enactment 
by the first legislature returned by a gene¬ 
ral election after its passage. 

Art. 115. The legislature shall provide 
by law for a change of venue in civil and 
criminal cases. 

Art. 116. No lottery shall be authorized 
by this State, and the buying or selling of lot¬ 
tery tickets within this State is prohibited. 

Art. 117. No divorce shall be granted 
by the legislature. 

Art. 118. Every law enacted by the 
legislature shall embrace but one object, 
and that shall be expressed in the title. 

Art. 119. No law shall be revived or 
amended by reference to its title; but in 
such case, the act revived, or section 
amended, shall be re-enacted and pubish- 
ed at length. 

Art. 120. The legislature shall never 
adopt any system or code of laws by gen¬ 
eral reference to such system or code of 
laws; but in all cases shall specify the sev¬ 
eral provisions of the laws it may enact. 

Art. 121. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stock of any corporation 
or joint stock company. 

Art. 122. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with banking or discounting privileges. 

Art. 123. Corporations shall not be 
created in this State by special laws except 
for political or municipal purposes ; but the 
Legislature shall provide by general laws, 
for the organization of all other corpora- 
tioni, except corporations with banking or 
discounting privileges, the creation of which 
is prohibited. 

Art. 124. From and after the month of 
January 1890, the Legislature shall have 
the power to revoke the charters of all cor¬ 
porations whose charters shall not have 
expired previous to that time, and no cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created shall ev¬ 
er endure for a longer term than twenty- 
five years, except those which are political 
or municipal. 

Art. 125. The General Assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, for a longer period than twenty 
years. 

Art. 126. No person shalbhold or exer- 



315 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


cise, at the same time, more than one civil 
office of emolument, except that of justice 
of the peace. 

Art. 127. Taxation shall be equal and 
uniform throughout the State. After the 
year 1848 all property, on which taxes 
may be levied in this State, shall be taxed 
in proportion to its value, to be ascertained 
as directed by law. No one species of 
property shall be taxed higher than another 
species of property of equal value, on which 
taxes shall be levied; the legislature shall 
have power to levy an income tax, and to 
tax all persons pursuing any occupation, 
trade or profession. 

Art. 128 . The citizens of the city of 
New Orleans shall have the right of ap¬ 
pointing the several public officers neces¬ 
sary for the administration of the police of 
the said city, pursuant to the mode of elec¬ 
tions which shall be prescribed by the le¬ 
gislature ; 'provided , that the mayor and 
recorders shall be ineligible to a seat in the 
general assembly; and the mayor, record¬ 
ers and aldermen shall be commissioned 
by the governor as justices of the peace, 
and the legislature may vest in them such 
criminal jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the punishment of minor crimes and of¬ 
fences, and as the police and good order of 
said city may require. 

A.rt. 129. The legislature may provide 
by law in what case officers shall continue 
to perform the duties of their offices until 
their successors shall have been inducted 
into office. 

Art. 130. Any citizen of this State who 
shall, after the adoption of this constitution, 
fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send or 
accept a challenge to fight a duel with deadly 
weapons, either within the State or out of 
it, or who shall act as second, or knowing¬ 
ly aid and assist in any manner those thus 
offending, shall be deprived of holding any 
office of trust or profit, and of enjoying the 
right of suffrage under this constitution. 

Art. 131. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over any territory 
acquired by compact with any State, or 
with the United States, *the same being 
done by the consent of the United States. 

Art. 132 . The constitution and laws of 
this State, shall be promulgated in the En¬ 
glish and French languages. 


On motion the 89th article was laid on 
the table, subject to call. 

Mr. Vooriiies moved to lay the 112th 
article on the table, subject to call. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brent, Briant, Cenas, 
Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Derbes, DuBouchel, 
Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, Humble, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, 
Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, St. 
Amand, Saunders, Soule, Trist, Voorhies, 
Wadsworth and' Winchester voted in the 
affirmative—32 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubort, Beatty, Brazeale, Burton, 
Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, Guion, Huds¬ 
peth, Hynson, Kenner, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, Peets, Porter, Pugh, Read, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana. Scott 
of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Tajdor of 
Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt, Winchester and Winder 
voted in the negative—28 navs; conse¬ 
quently' said motion was carried. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
lay the 38th section on the table indefi¬ 
nitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field. Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Du- 
Bouchel, Downs, Eustis, Garcia, Garrett, 
Guion, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, Marigny, Peets, Prescott of 
Avoylles, Preston, Read, St. Amand, Saun¬ 
ders, Soule, Stephens, Taylor of Assump- 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Wadsworth, 
and Winder voted in the affirmative—31 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudous- 
quie, Briant, Burton, Cenas, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Huds¬ 
peth, Kenner, McCallp, McRae, Mayo, 
Mazureau, Porter, Prescott of St. Landry, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Voorhies, Wad- 
dill, Wederstrandt and Winchester voted in 
the negative—31 nays; the vote being equal, 
consequently the motion was lost. 

Mr. Dunn then moved for the adoption 
of the section. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Chinn, 
Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Hynson, Ma- 






316 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


zureau, Porter, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, 
Voorhies, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—19 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Chambliss, Conrad of 
Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, 
Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garcia, Gar¬ 
rett, Guion, Mumble, Iienner, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Ma- 
rignv, Mayo, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, Prud- 
horame, Read, St. Amand, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Sellers, Soule, Stephens, 
Tcylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Waddill and Winder, voted in 
the negative—42 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost, and the section rejected. 

On motion the 39th section was laid on 
the table indefinitely. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, moved to 
amend the 130th article by inserting after 
the word “weapons,” the words “with a 
citizen of this State:” and to insert after 
the words “witin the State or out of it,” 
the words “with a citizen of this State.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Benjamimin, Boudous- 
quie, Brent, Briant, Cenas, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, Derbes, Downs, DuBouchel, Gar¬ 
cia, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, Kenner, 
Ledoux, Legender, Marigny, Mayo, Ma- 
zureau, Porter, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Ro¬ 
man, St. Amand, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Splane, Taylor of Assumption, 
Taylor of St. Landry, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt, Win¬ 
chester and Winder voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—45 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Burton, Chambliss, 
Chinn, Eustis, Garrett, Hynson, Lewis, 
McCallop, McRae, Peets, Preston, Pugh, 
Read, Roselius and Stephens voted in the 
negative—16 nays; consequently said mo¬ 
tion was carried. 

Mr. Ciiinn moved for the adoption of 
the section as amended. The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Derbes Downs, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Lewis, McCal¬ 


lop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Pres¬ 
ton, Read, Roselius, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Voorhies, Waddill, Win¬ 
chester and Winder, voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—38 yeas, and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin Bou- 
dousquie, Briant, Cenas, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Cul¬ 
bertson, DuBouchel, Garcia, Kenner, Le¬ 
gendre Marigny, Mazureau, Porter, Prud¬ 
homme, Roman, St. Amand, Soule, Splane, 
Trist, Wadsworth and Wederstrandt voted 
in the negative—25 nays, consequently the 
said section was adopted as amended, viz : 

Art. 130. Any citizen ofthis State, who 
shall, after the adoption of this Constitu¬ 
tion, fight a duel with deadly weapons with 
a citizeu of this State, or send or accept a 
challenge to fight a duel with deadly weap¬ 
ons, either within the State or out of it with a 
citizen of this State, or who shall act as 
second, or knowingly aid and assist in any 
manner, those thus offending, shall be de¬ 
prived of holding any office of trust or prof¬ 
it, and of enjoying the right of suffrage un¬ 
der this Consstitution. 

On motion of Mr. Kenner, the article 
112 was taken up, viz : 

Art. 112. The general assembly wide li 
shall meet after the first election of repre¬ 
sentatives, under this Constitution, shall, 
within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New r Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route, and 
if on the Mississippi river, by the meanders 
of the same; and when so fixed it shall not 
be removed without the consent of four- 
fifths of the members of both houses of the 
general assembly. The sessions shall be 
held in New Orleans, until the end of the 
year 1848. 

Mr. Brent submitted as q. substitute for 
said article, the following, viz : 

The seat of government shall be fixed 
permanently, after the year 1848 in the 
city of Baton Rou^e. 

Mr. Kenner moved to amend the sub r 
stitute by striking out the words “in the city 
of Baton Rouge,” and inserting in lieu 
thereof the words “in Donaldsonville,” 
which motion was lost. 






317 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


Mr. Benjamin moved to amend said 
substitute by striking out the words 
“in the city of Baton Rouge.” The yeas 
and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousqnie, 
Briant, Cenas, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Hudspeth, Kenner, Ledoux, Legendre, 
Lewis Marigny, Mazureau, Preston, Prud- 
homme, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Sou¬ 
le, Taylor of St. Landry, Wadsworth Win¬ 
chester and Winder, voted in the affirma¬ 
tive—31 yeas; and 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss Chinn, Dunn, 
Garrett, Gnion, Humble, Hynson, McCal- 
lop, McRae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescatt 
of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, 
Read, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, 
Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, 
Voorhies, Waddill and Wederstrandt, vo¬ 
ted in the negative—32 nays ; consequent¬ 
ly Said motion was lost. 

Mr. Brent then moved for the adoption 
of the substitute. The yeas and nays be¬ 
ing called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, Brum¬ 
field, Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, 
Garrett, tlumble, Hynson, McCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Read, 
Scott of of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Splane, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voorhies, 
Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in the af¬ 
firmative—31 yeas ; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousqnie, 
Briant, Cenas, Conrad of Orleans, Con¬ 
rad of JeffersoQ, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Guion, Hudspeth, Kenner, Ledoux, 
Legendre, Lewis, Marignv, Mazureau, 
Preston, Prudhomme, Roman, Roselius, 
St. Amand, Soule, Taylor oP St. Landry, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the negative—32 nays; consequently 
said motion was lost and the substitute re 
jected. 

Mr. Voorhies then moved to amend said 
section by striking out the words “at some 
place not less than sixty miles from the city 
of New Orleans, by the nearest travelling 
route, and if on the Mississippi river, by 


the meanders of the same.” The yeas and 
nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Brent, Briant, Cenas, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Covillion, Culbertson, 
Derbes, Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Garrett, Guion, Humble, Ledoux, Le¬ 
gendre, Marigny, Mayo, Mazureau, Porter, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, Pres¬ 
ton, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Soule, 
Splane, Trist, Voorhies, Wadsworth and 
Winchester voted in the affirmative—36 
yeas; and 

Measrs. Beatty, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Chambliss, Chinn, Dunn, Huds¬ 
peth, Hynson, Kenner, Lewis, McCallop, 
McRae, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Pugh, 
Read, Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, 
Scott of Feliciana, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Waddill, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the negative—28 nays; 
consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Wadswoth gave notice that he 
would -on to-morrow, move to reconsider 
the above vote. 

Mr. Chinn moved for the adoption of 
the section. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty , Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield , Burton, Chambliss, Chinn , 
Dunn, Garrett, Guion , Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson , Kenner, Lewis , McCallop,McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott 
of St. Landry, Pugh , Read, Saunders , 
Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feliciana, 
Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, Taylor 
of Assumption, Taylor of St. Landry, 
Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt and 
Winder voted in the affirmative—35 yeas; 
and 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, Covil¬ 
lion, Culbertson, Derbes, Downs, DuBou¬ 
chel, Eustis, Garcia, Ledoux , Legendre , 
Marigny, Mazureau, Porter, Prudhomme, 
Preston, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand , 
Soule, Splane, Trist, Voorhies and Win¬ 
chester voted in the negative—27 nays ; 
consequently said motion was carried. 

Mr. Mayo then moved for the reconsid¬ 
eration of the above vote. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Briant, Cenas, Con¬ 
rad of Orleans, Conrad of Jefferson, 




318 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Derbcs, Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Gar¬ 
cia, Ledoux, Legendre, Marigny , Mazu- 
reau, Porter, Preston, Roman, Roselius, 
Soule, Splane, Trist and Voorhies voted in 
the affirmative—22 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert , Beatty, Brazeale, Brent, 
Burton, Brumfield, Chambliss, Chinn, Cul¬ 
berson , Dunn, Guion, Hudspeth, Humble, 
Hynson, Kenner, Lewis, MeCallop, Mc¬ 
Rae, Mayo, Peels, Prescott of Avoyelles, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Pugh, Read, Saun¬ 
ders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of Feli¬ 
ciana, Scott of Madison, Sellers, Stephens, 
Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Waddill, Wadsworth, Wederstrandt 
and Winder voted in the negative—35 
nays; consequently said motion was lost. 

Mr. Wadsworth gave notice that he 
would on to-morrow, move to reconsider 
the above vote. 

On motion of Mr. Taylor of Assump¬ 
tion, the general provisions as reported and 
amended was adopted, viz : 

TITLE IV. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Art. 89. Members of the general as¬ 
sembly, and all officers, before they enter 
upon the duties of their offices shall take 
the following oath or affirmation: 

I (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States, and of this State; and I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I, being a citizen of this State, have 
not fought a duel with deadly weapons 
within this State, nor out of it, with a 
citizen of the State, nor have I sent or 
acepted a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons with a citizen of the State, 
nor have acted as second in carrying a 
challenge, or aided, advised, or assisted 
any person thus offending, so help me 
God.” 

Art. 90. Treason against the State 
shall consist only in levying war against, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con¬ 
victed of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 

Art. 91. Every person shall be dis¬ 


qualified from holding any office of trust 
or profit in this State, who shall have been 
convicted of having given, or offered a 
bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 

Art. 92. Laws shall be made to ex¬ 
clude from office and from the right of suf¬ 
frage, those who shall hereafter be convict* 
ed of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other 
high crimes or misdemeanors. 

The privilege of free suffrage shall be 
supported by laws regulating elections, and 
prohibiting under adequate penalties all 
undue influence thereon from power, 
bribery, tumult or other improper practice. 

Art. 93. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in pursuance of spe¬ 
cific appropriations made by law, nor shall 
any appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be 
published annually, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Art. 94. It shall be the duty of the gen¬ 
eral assembly to pass such laws as may be 
necessary and proper to decide differences 
by arbitration. 

Art. 95. All civil officers for the State 
at large shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their 
offices at such places therein as may be 
required by law. No person shall be 
elected or appointed to any parish office 
who shall not have resided in such parish 
long enough before such election or ap¬ 
pointment, to have acquired the right of 
voting in such parish; and no person shall 
be elected or appointed to any district 
office, who shall not have resided in such 
district, or an adjoining district, long 
enough before such appointment, or elec¬ 
tion, to have acquired the right of voting 
in the same. 

Art. 96. The duration of all offices not 
fixed by this constitution, shall never ex¬ 
ceed four years. 

Art. 97. All civil officers, except the 
governor and judges of the supreme and 
district courts, shall be removeable by an 
address of a majority of the members of 
both houses, except those the removal oj 
whom has been otherwise provided for by 
this constitution. 

Art. 98. Absence on business of this 







319 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


State or of the United State, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
under the exceptions contained in this con¬ 
stitution. 

Art 99. It shall be the duty of the le¬ 
gislature to provide by law for deductions 
from the salaries of public officers who 
may be guilty of a neglect of duty. 

Art. 100. The legislature shall point 
out the manner in which a person coming 
into the State shall declare his residence. 

Art. 101. In all elections by the people 
the vote shall be by ballot, and in all elec¬ 
tions by the senate and house of represen¬ 
tatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall 
be given viva voce. 

Art. 102. No member of congress, nor 
person holding or exercising any office of 
trust or profit under the United States, or 
either of them, or under any foreign power, 
shall be eligible as a member of the gene¬ 
ral assembly, or hold or exercise any office 
of trust or profit under the State. 

Art. 103. The laws, the public records 
and the judicial and legislative written pro¬ 
ceedings of the State, shall be promulgated, 
preserved and conducted in the language 
in which the constitution of the United 
States is written. 

Art. 104. The secretary of the senate, 
and clerk of the house of representatives, 
shall be conversant with the French and 
English languages, and members may ad¬ 
dress either house in the French or English 
language. 

Art. 105 The general assembly shall 
direct by law, how persons who are now, 
or may hereafter become sureties for pub¬ 
lic officers, may be discharged from such 
suretyship. 

Art. 100. No power of suspending the 
laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 
by the Legislature or its authority. 

Art, 107. Prosecutions shall be by in¬ 
dictment, or information. The accused 
shall have a speedy public trial by an im¬ 
partial jury of the vicinage : he shall not be 
compelled to give evidence against himself; 
he shall have the right of being heard . by 
himself or counsel; he shall have the right, 
unless he shall have fled from justice, of 
meeting the witnesses face to face, and 
shall have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor. 


Art. 108. All prisoners shall be baila¬ 
ble by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences, where the proof is evident, or pre¬ 
sumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall hot be suspen¬ 
ded, unless when in case of rebellion or in- • 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Art. 109. No ex post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall be passed; nor vested rights be di¬ 
vested unless for purposes of public utility, 
and for adequate compensation previously 
made, 

Art. 110. The press shall be free. Ev¬ 
ery citizen may freely speak, write and pub¬ 
lish his sentiments on all subjects ; being 
responsible for an abuse of this liberty. 

Art. 111 . Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Art. 112. The general assembly which 
shall meet after the first election of repre¬ 
sentatives under this Constitution, shall, 
within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route ; and 
if on the Mississippi river, by the mean¬ 
ders of the same : and when so fixed, it 
shall not be removed without the consent 
of four fifths of the members of both hous¬ 
es of the general assembly. The sessions 
shall be held in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 

Art. 113. The legislature shall not 
pledge the faith of the State for the pay¬ 
ment of any bonds, bills, or other contracts 
or obligations for the benefit or use of any 
person or persons, corporation or body po¬ 
litic whatever. But the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its outstanbing obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, are not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest,-than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

Art. 114. The aggregate amount of 
debts hereafter contracted by the legisla¬ 
ture, shall never exceed the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars, except in case 
of war, to repel invasions or suppres insur¬ 
rections, unless the same be authorized by 
some law, for some single object or work, to 
be distinctly specified therein ; which law 
shall provide ways and means, by taxation,. 



320 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


for the payment of running interest during 
the whole time for which said debt shall be 
contracted, and for the full and punctual 
discharge at maturity, of the capital bor¬ 
rowed i and said law shall be irrepealable 
until principal and interest are fully paid 
and discharged, and shall not be put into 
execution until after its enactment by the 
first legislature returned by a general 
election after its passage. 

Art. 115. The legislature shall pro. 
vide by law for a change of venue in civil 
and criminal cases. 

Art. 116. No lottery'shall be author, 
ized by this State, and the buying or selling 
of lottery tickets wiihin the State is prohi¬ 
bited. 

Art. 117, No divorce shall be granted 
by the Legislature. 

Art. 118. Every law enacted by the le¬ 
gislature shall embrace but one object, and 
that shall be expressed in the title. 

Art. 119. No law shall be revived or 
amended by reference to its title ; but in 
such case, the act revived, or section amen¬ 
ded, shall be re-enacted and published at 
length. 

Art. 120 . The legislature shall never 
adopt any system or code of laws b}^ gene¬ 
ral reference to such system or code of 
laws ; but in all cases shall specify the sev- 
sral provisions of the laws it may enact. 

Art. 121. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stock of any corporation 
or joint stock company. 

Art. 122. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with banking or discounting privileges. 

Art. 123. Corporations shall not be 
created in this State by special laws, ex¬ 
cept for political or municipal purposes ; 
but the legislature shall provide by gene¬ 
ral laws, for the organization of all other 
corporations, except corporations with ban¬ 
king or discounting privileges, the creation 
of which is prohibited. 

Art. 124. From and after the month of 
January, 1890, the legislature shall have 
the power to revoke the charters of all cor¬ 
porations whose charters shall not have 
expired previous to that time, and no cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created shall ever 
endure for a longer term than twenty-five 
years, except those which are political or 
municipal. 

Art. 125. The general assembly shall 


never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, for a longer period than twenty 
years. 

Art. 126. No person shall hold or ex¬ 
ercise, at the same time, more than one 
civil office of emolument, except that of 
justice of the peace. 

Art. 127. Taxation shall be equal and 
uniform throughout the State. After the 
year 1848 all property, on which taxes 
may be levied in this State, shall be taxed 
in proportion to its value, to be ascertained 
as directed by law. No one species of 
property shall be taxed higher than ano¬ 
ther species of property of equal value, on 
which taxes shall be levied; the legisla¬ 
ture shall have power to levy an income 
tax, and to tax all persons pursuing any 
occupation, trade or profession. 

Art. 128. The citizens of the city of 
New Orleans shall have the right of ap¬ 
pointing the several public officers neces¬ 
sary for the administration of the police of 
the said city, pursuant to the mode of elec¬ 
tions which shall be prescribed by the 
legislature; provided, that the mayor and 
recorders shall be ineligible to a seat in 
the general assembly; and the mayor, re¬ 
corders and aldermen shall be commission¬ 
ed by the governor as justices of the peace, 
and the legislature may vest in them such 
criminal jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the punishment of minor crimes and 
offences, and as the police and good order 
of said cify may require. 

Art. 129. The legislature may provide 
by law in what case officers shall continue 
to perform the duties of their offices until 
their successors shall have been inducted 
into office. 

Art. 130. Any citizen of this State who 
shall, after the adoption of this constitution, 
fight a duel with deadly weapons with a 
citizen of this State, or send or accept a 
challenge to fight a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, either within the State or out of it, 
with a citizen of this State, or who shall 
act as secondj or knowingly aid and assist 
in any manner those thus offending, shall 
be deprived of holding any office of trust 
or profit, and of enjoying the right of suf¬ 
frage under this constitution. 

Art. 131. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over any territory 
acquired by compact with any State, or 




521 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


with the United States, the same being 
done by the consent of the United States. 

Art. 132. The constitution and laws of 
this State, shall be promulgated in the En¬ 
glish and French languages. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, a. m. 


Wednesday, May 14, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to ad¬ 
journment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Read, chairman of the committee 
on contingent expences, submitted the fol¬ 
lowing report, and the same was adopted, 
viz: 

“ The committee on contingent expen¬ 
ses beg leave to submit the following re¬ 
port, in relation to the sale of furniture 
used by the Convention while sitting in the 
St. Louis Hotel: 

Total amount of sales $149,37£ 


Of this sum Mr. Ratliff, chair¬ 
man of the committee on 
contingent expenses, collect¬ 
ed $ 

From A. Boudousquie 

$12,50 

a 

Jacob Humble 

4,1'2J 

ti 

A. Read 

12,50 


R. C. Hynson 

0,25 

<< 

J. B. Wederstrandt 

2,00 

Si 

H. Waddill 

12,50 

u 

Jas. Carpenter 

7,10 

it 

Geo. Eustis 

3,66^ 

ii 

W. Burton 

,25 

it 

M. G. Penn 

11,00 

ti 

W. C. C. Claiborne 

7,75 

ii 

W. B. Scott 

12,50 

Amount sold at auction 

16,25 


' --$108,39^ 

All of which will more fully appear from 
vouchers in the treasurer’s office. Mr. 
Ratliff authorized the committe to deposit 
his per diem and mileage warrants in the 
State treasury, amounting to one hundred 
and twelve dollars eighty cents, as security 
for the payment of the sum in his hands; 
which has been done. 

Your committee has since collected the 
sum of fifteen dollars, to wit: 

From Horatio Davis $10,00 

“ Wm. Ruflier 5,00 


$15,00 

which has been paid into the treasury, 

41 


Eighteen dollars are yet due by Mr. B. 
R. Mills, which will probably never be 
collected. 

All which is submitted. 

(Signed) A. READ, 

Acting Chairman Com. contingent ex¬ 
penses.” 

Mr. Read submitted the following res¬ 
olution, and the same was adopted, viZ: 

“Resolved , that the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be authorized to issue 
warrants in favor of W. Bloomfield, book¬ 
seller, for the sum of twenty dollars; in 
favor of A. Brusle for five dollars; in fa¬ 
vor of James Carpenter for five dollars and 
twenty-five cents; in favor of D. Jamier 
for twenty-five dollars.” 

Mr. Saunders submitted the following, 
and the same was adopted, viz: 

“ Ordered , that this constitution be pub¬ 
lished in newspapers as follows, to wit.— 
In the New Orleans Bee, Louisiana Cou¬ 
rier, Jeffersonian and Bulletin, and in all 
the country papers printed in the State, 
and the publishers of said papers shall 
each be entitled to receive from the 
treasury, on their own warrants, the sum 
of twenty-five dollars for the said publica¬ 
tion, when made in English only, and fifty 
dollars when made in English and French; 
Provided , said publication be made within 
twenty days after the adjournment of the 
Convention.” 

On motion, the article on impeachment 
was taken up for third reading, and adopt¬ 
ed, as reported, viz: 

TITLE Y. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

Art. 84. The power of impeachment 
shall be vested in the house of representa¬ 
tives. 

Art. 85. Impeachments of the gover¬ 
nor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, 
secretary of State, State treasurer, and the 
judges of the district courts, shall be tried 
by the senate; the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior judge thereof, 
shall preside during the trial of-such im¬ 
peachments. Impeachments of the judges 
of the supreme court shall be tried by the 
senate. When sitting as a court of im¬ 
peachment, the senators shall be upon oath 
or affirmation, and no person shall be com 
victed without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators present. 

Art. 86 . Judgments in cases of im- 








\)2°2 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


peachment shall extend only to removal 
from office and disqualification from hold- 
ing any office of honor, trust or profit un¬ 
der this State; but the parties convicted 
shall, nevertheless, be subject to indict- 
ment, trial and punishment, according to 
law. 

Art. 87. All officers against whom articles 
of impeachment may be preferred, shall 
be suspended from the exercise of their 
functions during the pendency of such im¬ 
peachment. The appointing power may 
make a provisional appointment to replace 
any suspended officer until the decision on 
the impeachment. 

Art. 88. The legislature shall provide 
by law for the trial, punishment and remo¬ 
val from office of all other officers of the 
State, by indictment or otherwise. 

On motion, the report of the committee 
of revision in relation to public education 
was taken up for its third reading, viz: 
TITLE VII. 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Art. 133. There shall be appointed a 
superintendent of public education, who 
shall hold his office for two years. His 
duties shall be prescribed by law. He 
shall receive compensation as the legisla¬ 
ture may direct. 

Art. 134. The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means tor their support 
by taxation on property or otherwise. 

Art. 135. The proceeds of all lands 
heretofore granted by the United States to 
this State for the use or support of schools, 
and of all lands which may hereafter be 
granted or bequeathed to the State, and not 
expressly granted or bequeathed for any 
other purpose, which hereafter may be 
disposed of by the State, and the proceeds 
of the estates of deceased persons to which 
the State may become entitled by law, 
shall be held by the State as a loan, and 
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, on 
which the State shall pay an annual inter¬ 
est of six per cent; which interest together 
with all the rents of the unsold lands, shall 
be appropriated to the support of such 
schools, and this appropriation shall remain 
inviolable. 

Art. 136. All moneys arising from the 
sale which have been or may hereafter be 
made of any lands heretofore granted by the 
United States to this State, for the use of a 


seminar}’ of learning, and from any kind of 
donation that may hereafter be made for 
that purpose, shall be and remain a perpet¬ 
ual fund, the interest of which at six per 
cent per annum, shall be appropriated to 
the support of a seminary of learning for 
the promotion of literature and the arts and 
sciences, and no law shall ever be made 
diverting said fund to any other use than to 
the establishmeht and improvement of said 
seminary of learning. 

Art. 137. An university shall be estab¬ 
lished in the city of New Orleans. It shall 
be composed of four faculties, to wit: one 
of law, one of medicine, one of the natural 
sciences, and one of letters. 

Art. 138. It shall be called “ the Uni¬ 
versity ofLouisiana,” and the Medical Col¬ 
lege of Louisian as at present organized, 
shall constitute the faculty of medicine. 

Art. 139. The legislature shall provide 
by law, for its further organization and go* 
vernment; but shall be under no obligation 
to contribute to the establishment or sup¬ 
port of said university by appropriations. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
amend the first section by striking out the 
words “appointed” and insert in lieu there, 
of the words “elected by the qualified 
electors of the State.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Beatty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, 
Brumfield, Burton, Cade, Carriere, Cham¬ 
bliss, Covillion, Hudspeth, Humble, Hyn- 
son, Ledoux, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, 
Mayo, Peets, Porter, Prescott of Avoy¬ 
elles, Prescott of St. Landry, Preston, 
Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Saunders, Scott 
of Baton Rouge, Scott of Madison, Sel¬ 
lers, Stephens, Taylor of Assumption, Tay¬ 
lor of St. Landry, Wederstrandt and Wad- 
dill voted in the affirmative—35 yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Briant, Ce- 
nas, Chinn, Conrad of Orleans, Conrad of 
Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, Dunn, Eus- 
tis, Garcia, Garrett, Grymes, Guion, La- 
bauve, Legendre, Marigny, Mazureau, Ro¬ 
man, Roselius, St. Amand, Voorhies, 

• Winchester and Winder voted in the neg¬ 
ative—25 nays; consequently the motion 
was lost, and the said report was adopted 
as reported above. 

On motion, the report of the committee 
of revision, on the mode of revising the 
constitution was taken up for its third read¬ 
ing, viz: 







S23 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


TITLE VIII. 

MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. 140. Any amendment or amend, 
ments to this constitution may be proposed 
in the senate or house of representatives, 
and if the same shall be agreed to by three- 
fifths of the members elected to each house 
and approved by the governor, such pro- 
posed amendment or amendments, shall 
be entered on their journals, with the yeas 
and nays taken thereon, and the secretary 
of state shall cause the same to be pub- 
lished three months before the next gen¬ 
eral election, in at least one newspaper in 
French and English, in every parish in 
the State in which a newspaper shall be 
published; and if, in the legislature next 
afterwards chosen, such proposed amend- 
ment or amendments shall be agreed to by 
a majority of the members elected to each 
house, the secretary of state shall cause 
the same to be again published in the man¬ 
ner aforesaid, at least three months pre¬ 
vious to the next general election for rep¬ 
resentatives to the State legislature, and 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be submitted to the people at said 
election; and if a majority of the qualified 
electors shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments, the same shall 
become a part of the constitution: If more 
than one amendment be submitted at a 
time, they shall be submitted in such man¬ 
ner and form that the people may vote for 
or against each amendment, separately. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption moved to 
amend said article by striking out in the 
fourth line the words “three-fifths,” and 
insert in lieu thereof “a majority.” 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Cade, Chambliss, Covillion, DuBouchel, 
Garrett, Humble, Hynson, Ledoux, Mc- 
Callop, McRae, Mayo, Beets, Penn, Por¬ 
ter, Prescott of Avoyelles, Prescott of St. 
Landry, Preston, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Stephens, Tay¬ 
lor of Assumption, Voorhies, Waddill and 
Wederstrandt voted in the affirmative—23 
yeas; and 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Burton, Carriere, 
Genas, Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Der- 
bes, Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Grymes, Guion, 
Hudspeth, Kenner, Labauve, Legendre, 


Lewis, Marigny, Mazureau, Prudhomme, 
Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, Sel¬ 
lers, Soule, Taylor of St. Landry, Wads¬ 
worth, Winchester and Winder voted in 
the negative—38 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost, and the report was adopt¬ 
ed. 

On motion, the schedule was taken up 
for its third reading, as follows, viz: 
TITLE IX. 

SCHEDULE. 

Art. 141. The Constitution adopted in 
1812 is declared to be superseded by this 
Constitution, and in order to carry the same 
into affect, it is hereby declared and ordain¬ 
ed as folllows: 

Art. 142. All rights, actions, prosecu¬ 
tions, claims and contracts, as well of indi¬ 
viduals as of bodies corporate, and all laws 
in force at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith 
shall continue as if the same had not been 
adopted. 

Art. 143. Until the first enumeration 
shall be made as directed in article eighth, 
of this Constitution, the parish of Orleans 
shall have twenty representatives, to be 
elected as follows, viz: 

Eight by the First Municipality, seven 
by the Second Municipality, and four by 
the Third Municipality, to be distributed 
among the nine representative districts as 
follows, by allotting to the 


First district, 

two Rep, 

Second “ 

two 

Third 

three 

Fourth “ 

three 

Fifth “ 

three 

Sixth 

two ' 

Seventh “ 

two 

Eighth 44 

one 

Ninth “ 

one 

And to that part of the parish 

on the right 

bank of the Mississippi, 

one 

The parish of Plaquemines, 
shall have 

three 

“ St. Bernard, 

one 

“ Jefferson, 

three 

“ St. Charles, 

one 

“ St. John the Baptist, one 

“ St. James, 

two 

“ Ascension, 

two 

“ Assumption, 

three 

“ Lafourche Interior, 

three 

“ Terrebone, 

two 

“ Iberville, 

two 





324 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish of West Baton Rouge, one 

three 
two 
three 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
two 
three 
one 
two 
five 
one 
two 
three 
three 
two 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
one 
two 
two 
one 

And the State shall be divided into the 
following senatorial districts : 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators; 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the right bank of the river, 
shall compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district with one senator; 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 


Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators; 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator; 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district* with one senator; 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
one distrtct, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators; 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
"shall compose one district with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house and Ouachita shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
o ne senator; 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

And whenever a new parish shall be crea¬ 
ted,! t shall be attached to the senatorial dis- 


<( 

tt 

u 

if 

it 

it 

(l 

it 

it 


East do. 
West Feliciana, 
East do 
St. Helena, 
Washington, 
Livingston, 

St. Tammany, 
Point Coupee, 
Concordia, 
Tensas, 
Madison, 
Carroll, 
Franklin, 

St. Mary, 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, ’ 
Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 
Calcasieu, 
Avoyelles 
Rapides, 
Natchitoches, 
Sabine, 

Caddo, 

De Soto, 
Ouachita, 
Morehouse, 
Union 
Jackson, 
Caldwell, 
Catahoula, 
Claiborne, 
Bossier, 

Total, ninety-eight. 


ii 

it 

it 

ff 

it 

it 

ii 

it 

it 

ti 

it 

it 

it 

it 

ii 

it 

it 

ii 

it 

ii 

ft 

it 

ti 






325 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


trict from which most of its territory was 
taken or to another contiguous district at 
thediscretion of the legislature, but shall not 
be attached to more than one district. 

Art. 144. In order that no inconveni¬ 
ence may result to the public service from 
the taking effect of this Constititution, no 
office shall be superseded thereby ; but the 
laws of the State relative to the duties of 
the several officers, executive, judicial and 
military, shall remain in full force, though 
the same be contrary to this Constitution, 
and the several duties shall be performed 
by the respective officeis of the State accor¬ 
ding to the existing laws, until the organi¬ 
zation of the government under this Con¬ 
stitution, and the entering into office of the 
new officers, to be appointed under said 
government, and no longer. 

Art. 145. Appointments to office by 
the executive under this Constitution, shall 
be made by the governor to be elected un¬ 
der its authority. 

Art. 146. The provisions of article 28, 
concerning the inability of members of the 
legislature to hold certain offices therein 
mentioned, shall not be held to apply to 
the members of the first legislature elected 
unde r this Constitution. 

Art. 147. The time of service of all of¬ 
ficers chosen by the people, at the first 
election under this Constitution, shall ter¬ 
minate as though the election had been hol- 
den on the first Monday of November 
1845, and they had entered on the discharge 
of their duties at the time designated therein. 

Art. 148. The legislature shall provide 
for the removal of all causes now pending 
in the supreme or other courts of the 
courts under the Constitution of 1812, to 
State created by this Constitution. 

Art. 149. Appeals to the supreme 
court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, 
Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachi¬ 
ta, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, 
and Concoreia, shall until otherwise provi- 
dod for, be returnable to New Orleans. 

Mr. Winchester moved to amend the 
first ordinance by striking out the words 
“and under this constitution.” 

The yeas and nays being called for; 

Messrs. Aubert, Beatty, Benjamin, Bou- 
dousquie, Bourg, Briant, Cade, Cenas, 
Chinn, Claiborne, Conrad of Orleans, 
Conrad of Jefferson, Culbertson, Derbes, 
Garcia, Guion, Hudspeth, Keneer, La- 


bauve, Legendre, Lewis, Marigny, Majfu- 
reau, Pugh, Roman, Roselius, St. Amand, 
Saunders, Sellers, Taylor, of St. Landry, 
Wadsworth, Winchester and Winder voted 
in the affirmative—33 yeas; and 

Messrs. Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Carriere, Chambliss, Covillion, 
Downs, DuBouchel, Eustis, Garrett, Hyn- 
son, Humble, Ledoux, McCallop, McRae, 
May, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Prudhomme, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Scott of Madison, Splane, Ste¬ 
phens, Taylor of Assumption, Trist, Voor- 
hies, Waddill and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative —34 nays; consequently said 
motion was lost, and the schedule was 
adopted as reported above. 

It being the hour fixed, Mr. Vooriiies 
moved that the vote be taken on the final 
passage of the constitution. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 
Messrs. Joseph Walker, president, Beat¬ 
ty, Bourg, Brazeale, Brent, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Carriere, Chambliss, Chinn, 
Covillion, Culbertson, Downs, DuBouchel, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garrett, Guion, Hudspeth, 
Humble, Hynson, Kenner, Labauve, Le¬ 
doux, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Marigny, 
Mayo, Peets, Penn, Porter, Prescott of 
Avoyelles, Prescott of St. Landry, Pres¬ 
ton, Prudhomme, Pugh, Read, Roselius, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Scott of 
Madison, Sellers, Soule, Splane, Stephens, 
Tayior of Assumption, Taylor of St. Lan¬ 
dry, Trist, Voorhies, Waddill, Wadsworth, 
Wederstrandt and Winder voted in the af¬ 
firmative—55 yeas;and 
Messrs. Aubert, Benjamin, Boudousquie, 
Briant, Cenas, Claiborne, Conrad of Or¬ 
leans, Conrad of Jefferson, Derbes, Garcia, 
Legendre, Mazureau, Roman, St. Amand 
and Winchester voted in the negative—15 
nays; consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried, and the constitution adopted, as fol¬ 
lows, viz: 

CONSTITUTION OF THE 
STATE OF LOUISIANA. 

PREAMBLE. 

We the people of the State of Louisiana 
do ordain and establish this Constitution. 
TITLE I. 

DISTRIBUTION OF TOWERS. 

Art. 1 . The powers of the government 
of the State of Louisiana shall be divided 



32 6 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana, 


into three distinct departments, and each 
of them be confided to a separate body of 
magistracy, to wit: those which are legis¬ 
lative to one; those which arc executive to 
another, and those which are judicial to 
another. 

A-rt. 2. No one of these departments, 
nor any person holding office in one of 
them, shall exercise power properly be¬ 
longing to either of the others, except in 
the instances hereinafter expressly direct¬ 
ed or permitted. 

TITLE II. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 3. The legislative powers of the 
State shall be vested in two distinct branch¬ 
es, the one to be styled the “house of rep¬ 
resentatives,” the other “the senate,” and 
both “the general assembly of the State 
of Louisiana.” 

Art. 4. The members of the house of 
representatives shall continue in service 
for the term of two years from the day of 
the closing of the general elections. 

Art. 5. Representatives shall be chosen 
on the first Monday in November, every 
two years; and the election shall be com¬ 
pleted in one day. The general assembly 
shall meet every second year, on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion, unless a different day be appointed 
by law, and their session shall be held at 
the seat of government. 

Art. 6. No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative, who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male, and has not been for 
three years a citizen of the United States, 
and has not attained the age of twenty-one 
years, and resided in the State for the three 
years next preceding the election, and the 
last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen. 

Art. 7. Elections for representatives 
for the several parishes or representative 
districts shall be held at the several elec¬ 
tion precincts established by law. The 
legislature may delegate the power of es¬ 
tablishing election precincts to the paro¬ 
chial or municipal authorities. 

Art. 8. Representation in the house of 
representatives, shall be equal and uniform, 
and shall be regulated and ascertained by 
„ the number of qualified electors. Each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; no new parish shall be created with 


a territory less than six hundred and twen- 
: ty-five square miles, ner with a number ot 
electors less than the full number entitling 
it to a representative, nor when the crea¬ 
tion of such new parish would leave any 
other parish without the said extent of ter¬ 
ritory and number of electors. 

The first enumeration to be made by the 
State authorities under this constitution 
shall be made in the year J 847, the second 
in the year 1855; and the subsequent enu¬ 
merations shall be made every tenth year 
thereafter, in such manner as shall be pre¬ 
scribed by law for the purpose of ascer¬ 
taining the total population and the number 
of qualified electors in each parish and 
election district. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each enumera¬ 
tion, the legislature shall apportion the re¬ 
presentation amongst the several parishes 
and election districts on the basis of quali¬ 
fied electors as aforesaid. A representa¬ 
tive number shall be fixed, and each parish 
and election district shall have as many 
representatives as the aggregate number 
of its electors will entitle it to, and an 
additional representative for any fraction 
exceeding one half the representative 
number. The number of representatives 
shall not be more than one hundred nor 
less than seventy. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
shall be divided into nine representative 
districts, as follows, viz : 

1st. First district to extend from the line 
of the parish of Jefferson to the middle of 
Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district to extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of 
Julia street, until it strikes the New Or¬ 
leans canal, thence down said canal to the 
lake. 

3d. Third district to comprise the resi¬ 
due of the Second Municipality. 

4th. Fourth district to extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of 
St. Louis street, until it reaches the Me¬ 
tairie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district to extend from the last 
mentioned limits to the middle of St. Philip 
street, thence down said street until its in- 
terseetion with the bayou St. John, thence 




Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 327 


along the middle of said bayou until it in¬ 
tersects the Metairie road, thence along said 
road until it reaches St. Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district to be composed of the 
residue of the First Municipality. 

7th. Seventh district, from the middle 
Esplanade street to the middle of Champs 
Elysees street. 

8th. Eighth district, from the middle of 
Champs Elysees street to the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue. 

9th. Ninth district, from the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue to 
the lower limits of the parish. 

Art. 9. The house of representatives 
shall choose its speaker and other officers. 

Art. 10. In all elections by the people, 
every free white male who has attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided 
in the State two consecutive years next 
preceding the election, and the last year 
thereof in the parish in which he offers 
to vote, shall have the right of voting. 
Provided , that no person shall be deprived 
of the right of voting who at the time of 
the adoption of this constitution was enti¬ 
tled to that right under the constitution of 
1812. Electors shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony, breach or surety of the 
peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at, going to, or returning 
from elections. 

Art. 11. Absence from the State for more 
than ninety consecutive days, shall inter¬ 
rupt the acquisition of the residence requi¬ 
red in the preceding article, unless the 
person absenting himself shall be a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on business, and his dwelling house 
or tenementfor carrying on business shall 
be actually occupied during his absence, by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by some one employed by him. 

Art. 12. No soldier, seaman or marine 
ill the army or navy of the United States, 
no pauper, no person under interdiction, nor 
under conviction of any crime punishable 
with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote 
at any election in the State. 

Art. 13. No person shall be entitled to 
vote at any election held in this State, ex¬ 
cept in the parish of his residence, and in 
cities and towns divided into election pre¬ 
cincts, in the election precinct in which 
he resides. 

Art. 14. The members of the senate 


shall be chosen for the term of four years. 
The senate when assembled, shall have 
the power to choose its officers every two 
years. 

Art. 15. The legislature in every year in 
which they shall apportion representation in 
the house of representatives shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district, the parish of Orleans ex¬ 
cepted. And whenever a new parish shall 
be created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of its ter¬ 
ritory was taken, or to another contiguous 
district, at the discretion of the legislature; 
but shall not be attached to more than one 
district. The number of senators shall be 
thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned 
among the senatorial districts according to 
the total population contained in the seve¬ 
ral districts: Provided, that no parish shall 
be entitled to more than one-eighth of the 
whole number of senators. 

Art. 16. In all apportionments of the 
senate, the population of the city of New 
Orleans shall be. deducted from the popu¬ 
lation of the whole State, and the remain¬ 
der of the population divided by the number 
twenty eight, and the result produced by 
this division shalL be the senatorial ratio 
entitling a senatorial district to a senator. 
Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the number entitling 
a district to a senator; and if in the appor¬ 
tionment to be made, a parish or district 
fall short of or exceed the ratio, one-fifth, 
then a district may be formed having not 
more than two senators, but not otherwise. 

No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment. 

After an enumeration has been made as 
directed in the eighth article, the legisla¬ 
ture shall not pass any laws until an ap¬ 
portionment of the representation in both 
houses of the general assembly be made. 

Art. 17. At the first session of the 
general assembly, after this constitution 
takes effect, the senators shall be equally 
divided by lot into two classes; the seats 
of the senators of the first class shall be va. 
cated at the expiration of the second year, 
of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year; so that one-half shall be chosen 




328 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


every two years, and a rotation thereby kept 
up perpetually. In case any district shall 
have elected two or more senators, said 
senators shall vacate their seats respective¬ 
ly at the end of two and four years, and 
the lots shall be drawn between them. 

Art. 18. No person shall be a senator, 
who at the time of his election, has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
vears, and who lias not attained the age of 
twenty-seven years,and resided in the State 
four years next preceding his election, 
and the last year thereof in the district in 
which he may be chosen. 

Art. 19. The first election for senators 
shall be general throughout the State, and 
at the same time that the general election 
for representatives is held; and thereafter 
there shall be biennial elections to fill the 
place of those whose time of service may 
have expired. , 

Art. 20. Not less than a majority of the 
members of each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall form a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and shall be authorised by 
law to compel the attendance of absent 
members. 

Art. 21. Each house of the general 
assembly shall judge of the qualification, 
election and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Art. 22. Each house of the general 
Assembly may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish a member for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two-thirds expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same offence. 

Art. 23. Each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings; and the yeas 
and nays of the memb'ers on any question 
shall, at the desire of any two of them, be 
entered on the journal. 

Art. 24. Each house may punish by im¬ 
prisonment any person not a member, for 
disrespectful and disorderly behavior, in 
its presence or for obstructing any of its 
proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not 
exceed ten days for any one ofifence. 

Art. 25. Neither house, during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly, shall without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more 
than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which they may be sitting. 


Art. 26. The members of the general 
assembly shall receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during 
their attendance, going to and returning 
from the session of their respective houses. 
The compensation may be increased or 
diminished by law; but no alteration shall 
take effect during the period of service of 
the members of the house of representa¬ 
tives by whom such alterations shall have 
been made. No session shall extend to a 
period beyond sixty days, to date from its 
commencement, and any legislative action 
had after the expiration of the said sixty 
days, shall be null and void. This pro¬ 
vision shall not apply to the first legisla¬ 
ture which is to-convene after the adoption 
of this constitution. 

Art. 27. The members of the general 
assembly shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at the sessions of their respective 
houses; and going to or returning from the 
same, and for any speech or debate in 
either house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Art. 28. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during the time 
such senator or representative was in 
office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of 
the people. 

Art. 29. No person, while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest or teacher of any religious persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to 
the general assembly. 

Art. 30. No person who at any time 
may have been a collector of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly, or to any other office of 
profit or trust under the State government, 
until he shall have obtained a discharge 
for the amount of such collections, and for 
all public moneys with which he may 
have been entrusted. 

Art. 31. No bill shall have the force of 
a law until on three several days, it be read 




329 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


over in each house of the general assem¬ 
bly, and free discussion allowed thereon, 
unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the 
house, where the bill shall be pending, may 
deem it expedient to dispense with this rule. 

Art. 32. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives, but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments as in other bills; provided, they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment which does not 
relate to raising revenue. 

Art. 33. The general assembly shall 
regulate by law, by whom, and in what 
manner, writs of election shall be issued, 
to fill the vacancies which may happen in 
either branch thereof. 

Art. 34. A majority of all the members 
elected to the senate, shall be required for 
the confirmation or rejection of officers to 
be appointed by the governor, with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the senate; and the 
senate in deciding thereon, shall vote by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the sena¬ 
tors voting for and against the appoint¬ 
ments respectively, shall be entered on a 
journal to be kept for that purpose, and 
made public at the end of each session, or 
before. 

Art. 35. Returns of all elections for 
members of the general assembly shall be 
made to the secretary of state. 

Art. 36, A treasurer of the State shall 
be elected biennially, by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the general assembly. The 
governor shall have the power to fill any 
vacancy that may happen in that office 
during the recess of the legislature. 

Art. 37. In the year in which a regular 
election of a senator of the United States 
is to take pluce, the members of the gene¬ 
ral assembly shall meet in the hall of the 
house of representatives, on the Monday 
following the meeting of the legislature, 

, and proceed to the said election. 

TITLE III. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 38. The supreme executive pow- 
et of the State shall be vested in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the gover¬ 
nor of the State of Louisiana. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years; 
and together with the lieutenant governor 
chosen for the same term, be elected as 
follows:—The qualified electors for repre¬ 
sentatives, shall vote for a governor and 1 


lieutenant governor, at the time and place 
of voting for representatives; the returns of 
every election shall be sealed up and trans¬ 
mitted by the proper returning officer to 
the secretary of state; who shall deliver 
them to the speaker of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives on the second day of the session 
of the general assembly, then next to be 
holden. The members of the general as¬ 
sembly shall meet in the house of repre¬ 
sentatives, to examine and count the votes. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for governor shall be declared duly 
elected, but if two or more persons shall be 
equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled for governor, one of them shall im¬ 
mediately be chosen governor by joint vote 
of the members of the general assembly. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for lieutenant governor shall be lieu¬ 
tenant governor, but if two or more per¬ 
sons shall be equal and highest in the num¬ 
ber of votes polled for lieutenant governor, 
one of them shall be immediately chosen 
lieutenant governor by joint vote of the 
members of the general assembly. 

Art. 39. No person shall be eligible to' 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, and a resident 
within this State for the same space of time 
next preceding his election. 

Art. 40. The governor shall enter on 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 
Monday of January next ensuing his elec¬ 
tion, and shall continue in office until the 
Monday next succeeding the day that his 
successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and shall have taken the oath or 
affirmation prescribed by this Constitution. 

Art. 41. The governor shall be ineligi¬ 
ble for the succeeding four years after the 
expiration of the time for which he shall 
have been elected. 

Art. 42. No member of congress or 
person holding any office under the United” 
States, or minister of afiy religious society, 
shall be eligible to the office of governor of 
lieutenant governor. 

Art. 43. In case of the impeachment 
of the governor, his removal from office, 
death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the Stat e, the pow¬ 
ers and duties of the office shall devolve 
upon the lieutenant governor for the resi- 




330 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana* 


due of the term, or until the governor, ab¬ 
sent or impeached, shall return or be ac¬ 
quitted. The legislature may provide by 
law for the case of removal, impeachment, 
death, resignation, disability; or refusal to 
qualify, of both the governor and lieutenant 
governor, declaring what officer shall act 
as governor, and such officer shall act ac¬ 
cordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or for the residue of the term. 

Art. 44. The lieutenant governor, or 
other officer discharging the duties of gov-; 
ernor, shall, during his administration, re-! 
ceive the same compensation to which the j 
governor would have been entitled, had he I 

to 

continued in office. 

Art. 45. The lieutenant governor shall, 
by virtue of his office, be president of the ; 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote ; 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate the sena¬ 
tors shall elect one of their own members i 
as president of the senate for the time ; 
being. 

Art. 46. While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of rep¬ 
resentatives, and no more. 

Art. 47. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall, with the consent of the senate, 
have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In 
cases of treason he may grant reprieves, 
until the end of the next session of the gen¬ 
eral assembly, in which the power of par¬ 
doning shall be vested. 

Art. 48. The governor shall at stated 
times receive for his services a compensa¬ 
tion, which shall neither be increased or 
diminished during the term for which he 
shall have been elected. 

Art. 49. He shall be communder*in- 
chief of the army and navy of this State 
and of the militia thereof, except when 
they shall be called into the service of the 
United States. 

Art. 50. He shall nominate, and by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
appoint all officers whose offices are es¬ 
tablished by this constitution, and whose 
appointment is not therein otherwise pro¬ 


vided for: Provided, however, that the 
legislature shall have a right to prescribe 
the mode of appointment to all other offices 
established by law. 

Art. 51. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end ot 
the next session, unless otherwise provided 
for in this constitution; but no person who 
has been nominated for office, and rejected 
by the senate, shall be appointed to the 
same office during the recess of the senate 

Art. 52. He may require information 
in writing from the officers in the execu¬ 
tive department, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices. 

Art. 53. He shall from time to time, 
give to the general assembly information- 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 


I 


I 




Art. 54. He may on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place if that should become dangerous from- 
an enemy or from epidemics; and in case 
of disagreemet between the two houses as 
to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn- 
them to such time as he may think proper, 
not exceeding four months. 

Art. 55. He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

Art. 56. Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve he shall sign 
it, if not, he shall return it with his ob¬ 
jections to the house in which it origina¬ 
ted, which shall enter the objections at 
large upon its journal, and proceed to re¬ 
consider it; if after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of all the members elected to 
that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent with the objections to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house, 
it shall be a law; but in such cases the vote 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names-of the members 
voting for and against the bill, shall be en¬ 
tered on the journal of each house respec¬ 
tively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the governor within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 









331 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


if he had signed it, unless the general as¬ 
sembly by adjournment, prevent its return; 
in which case it shall bea law, unless sent 
back within three days after their next 
meeting. 

Art. 57. Every order, resolution or vote 
to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary, except on a question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the gov¬ 
ernor, and before it shall take effect, be 
approved by him, or being disapproved, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
members elected to each house of the gen¬ 
eral assembly. 

Art. 58. There shall be a secretary of 
state, who shall hold his office during the 
time for which the governor shall have 
been elected. The records of the State 
shall be kept and preserved in the office ol 
the secretary; he shall keep a fair register 
of the official acts and proceedings of the 
governor, an3 when necessary shall attest 
them. He shall, when required, lay the 
said register, and all papers, minutes and 
vouchers relative to his office, before either 
house of the general assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may bo en¬ 
joined oir -him by law. 

Art. 59. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, and shall be scaled with the 
State seal and signed by the governor. ’ 

Art. 60. The free white men of the 
State shall be armed and disciplined for 
its defence; but those who belong to reli¬ 
gious societies whose tenets forbid them to 
carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, 
but shall pay an equvalent for personal ser¬ 
vices. 

Art. 61. The militia of the State shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most expedient by the 
legislature. 

TITLE IV. 

JUDICIARY DEPARMENT. 

Art. 62. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
and injustices of the peace. 

Art. 63. The supreme court, except in 
cases hereinafter provided, shall have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 
in dispute shall exceed .three hundred dol¬ 
lars, to all cases in which the constitution¬ 
ality of any tax, toll, or impost of any kind 
or nature soever, shall be in contestation, 


whatever may be the amount thereof; and 
likewise to all fines, forfeitures and penal¬ 
ties imposed by municipal corporations; 
and in criminal cases on questions of law 
alone, whenever the punishment of death 
or hard labor may be inflicted, or when a 
fine exceeding three hundred dollars is ac¬ 
tually imposed. 

Art. 64. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate judges, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars, and each of the associate judges a sal¬ 
ary of five thousand five hundred dollars, 
annually.- The said court shall appoint 
its own clerks. The said judges shall be 
appointed for the term of eight years. 

Art. 65. When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for the term of 
eight years, one of the associate judges for 
six years, one for four years and one for 
two years; and in the event of the death, 
resignation, or removal of any of said 
judges, before the expiration of the period 
for which he was appointed, his successor 
shall be appointed only for the remainder 
of his term: so that the term of office of 
no two of said judges shall expire at the 
same time. 

Art. 66. The supreme court shall hold 
its sessions in New Orleans from the first 
Monday of the month of November to the 
end of the month of June, inclusive. The 
legislature shall have power to fix the ses¬ 
sions elsewhere during the rest of the 
year; until otherwise provided, the ses¬ 
sions shall be held as heretofore. 

Art. 67. The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof, shall have power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus, at the instance 
of all persons in actual custody under pro¬ 
cess, in all cases in which they may have 
appellate jurisdiction. 

Art. 68. In all cases in which the judges 
shall be equally dived in opinion, the judg¬ 
ment appealed from shall stand affirmed; 
in which case each of the judges shall 
give his separate opinion in writing. 

Art. 69. All judges, by virtue of their 
office, shall be conservators of the peace 
throughout the State. The style of all 
process shall be “the State of Louisiana.” 
All prosecutions shall be carried on “ in 
the name and bv the authority of the State 









332 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


of Louisiana,” and conclude “against the I 
peace and dignity of the same.” 

Art. 70. The judges of all courts with¬ 
in this State shall, as often as it is possible 
so to do, in every definitive judgment, re¬ 
fer to the particular law in virtue of which 
such judgment may be rendered, and in 
all cases adduce the reasons on which such 
judgment is founded. 

Art. 71 . No court or judge shall make 
any allowance by way of fee or compen¬ 
sation in any suit or proceedings, except 
for the payment of such fees to the minis¬ 
terial officers as may be established by 
Jaw. 

Art. 72. No duties or functions shall 
ever be attached by law to the supreme or 
district courts, or to the several judges 
thereof, but such as are judicial; and the 
said judges are prohibited from receiving 
any fees of office, or other compension 
than their salaries for any civil duties per- 
ormed by them. 

Art. 73. The judges of all courts shall 
£>e liable to impeachment; but for any rea¬ 
sonable cause, which shall not be suffi¬ 
cient ground for impeachment, the govern¬ 
or shall remove any of them, on the ad¬ 
dress of three-fourths of the members pre¬ 
sent of each house of the general assem¬ 
bly. In every such case, the cause or 
pauses for which such removal maybe re¬ 
quired, shall be stated at length in the ad 
dress, and inserted in the journal of each 
house. 

Art. 74. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many district 
attorneys as may be hereafter found neces¬ 
sary. They shall hold their offices for 
two years; their duties shall be determined 
by law. 

Art. 75. The first legislature assem¬ 
bled under this constitution, shall divide 
the State into judicial districts, which shall 
remain unchanged for six years, and be 
subject to reorganization every sixth year 
thereafter. 

The number of districts shell not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. 

For each district one judge, learned in 
the law shall be appointed, except in the 
district in which the cities of New Orleans 
and Lafayette are situated, in which the 
legislature many establish as many district 
courts as the public interest may require, 


Art. 76. Each of the said judges shall 
receive a salary to be fixed by law, which 
shall not be increased or diminished dur¬ 
ing his term of office, and shall never be 
less than two thousand five hundred dol¬ 
lars annually. He must be a citizen of 
the United States, over the age of thirty 
years, and have resided in the Stale for six 
years next preceding his appointment, and 
have practiced law therein for ther space of 
five years. 

Art. 77. The judges of the district 
courts shall hold their offices for the term 
of six years. The judges first appointed 
shall be divided by ballot into three class¬ 
es, as nearly equal as can be; and the term 
of office of the judges of the first class 
shall expire at the end of two years, of 
the second class at the end of four years, 
and of the third class at the end of six 
years. 

Art. 78. The-district courts shall have 
original jurisdiction in all civil cases when 
the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, 
exclusive of interest. In all criminal ca¬ 
ses, and in all matters connected with suc¬ 
cessions, their jurisdiction shall be unlim¬ 
ited. 

Art. 79. The legislature shall have 
power to vest in clerks of courts authority 
to grant such orders, and do such acts as 
may be deemed necessary for the further¬ 
ance of the administration of justice; and 
in all cases the powers thus granted shall 
be specified and determined. 

Art. 80. The clerks of the several 
courts snail be removable, for breach ol 
good behavior, by the judges thereof; 
subject in all cases to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Art. 81. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed in civil cases 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the dis¬ 
trict court in such cases as shall be provid¬ 
ed for by law. They shall be elected by 
the qualified voters of each parish, for the 
term of two years, and shall have such 
criminal jurisdiction as shall be provided 
for by law. 

Art. 82. Clerks of the disirict courts 
in this State shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied electors in each parish for the term of 
four years, and should a vacancy occur sub¬ 
sequent to an election, it shall be filled by 





333 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


the judge of the court in% T hich such vacan¬ 
cy exists, and the person so appointed shall 
hold- his office until the next general elec¬ 
tion. 

Art. 83. A sheriff and a coroner shall 
be elected in each parish, by the qualified 
voters thereof, who shall hold their offices 
for the term of two years, unless sooner 
removed. 

Should a vacancy occur in either of these 
offices subsequent to an election, it shall be 
filled by the governor; and the person so 
appointed shall continue in office until his 
successor shall be elected and qualified. 
TITLE V. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

Art. 84. The power of impeachment 
shall be vested in the house of representa¬ 
tives. 

Art. 85. Impeachments of the gover¬ 
nor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, 
secretary of State, State treasurer, and the 
judges of the district courts, shall be tried 
by the senate; the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior judge thereof, 
shall preside during the trial of such im¬ 
peachments. Impeachments of the judges 
ot the supreme court shall be tried by the 
senate. When sitting as a court of im¬ 
peachment, the senators shall be upon oath 
or affirmation, and no person shall be con¬ 
victed without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators present. 

Art. 86. Judgments in cases of im¬ 
peachment shall extend only to removal 
from office and disqualification from hold¬ 
ing any office of honor, trust or profit un¬ 
der this State; but the parties convicted 
shall, nevertheless, be subject to indict¬ 
ment, trial and punishment, according to 
law. 

Art. 87. All officers against whom articles 
of impeachment may be preferred, shall 
be suspended from the exercise of their 
functions during the pendency of such im¬ 
peachment. The appointing power may 
make a provisional appointment to replace 
any suspended officer until the decision on 
the impeachment. 

Art. 88. The legislature shall provide 
by law for the trial, punishment and remo¬ 
val from office of all other officers of the 
State, by indictment or otherwise. 

On motion, the report of the committee 
of revision in relation to public education 
was taken up for its third reading, viz: 


TITLE VI. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Art. 89. Members of the general as¬ 
sembly, and all officers, before they enter 
upon the duties of their offices shall take 
the following oath or affirmation: 

I (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United Slates, and of this State; and I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I, being a citizen of this State, have 
not £>ught a duel with deadly weapons 
within this State, nor out of it, with a 
citizen of the State, nor have I sent or 
acepted a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons with a citizen of the State, 
nor have acted as second in carrying a 
challenge, or aided, advised, or assisted 
any person thus offending, so help me 
God.” 

Art. 90. Treason against the State 
shall consist only in levying war against, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con¬ 
victed of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 

Art. 91. Every person shall be dis¬ 
qualified from holding any office of trust 
or profit in this State, who shall have been 
convicted of having given, or offered a 
bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 

Art. 92. Laws shall be made to ex¬ 
clude from office and from the right of suf¬ 
frage, those who shall hereafter be convict* 
ed of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other 
high crimes or misdemeanor!. ’ 

The privilege of free suffrage shall be 
supported by laws regulating elections, and 
prohibiting under adequate penalties all 
undue influence thereon from power, 
bribery, tumult or other improper practice. 

Art. 93. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in pursuance of spe¬ 
cific appropriations made by law, nor shall 
any appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 
expenditures of all public money shall be 





331 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


published annually, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by law. 

Art. 94. It shall be the duty of the gen¬ 
eral assembly to pass such laws as may be 
necessary and proper to decide differences 
by arbitration. 

Art. 95. All civil officers for the State 
at large shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their 
offices at ^uch places therein as may be 
required by law. No person shall be 
elected or appointed to any parish office 
who shall not have resided in such parish 
long enough before such election or ap¬ 
pointment, to have acquired the right of 
voting in such parish.; and no person^shall 
be elected or appointed to any district 
office, who shall not have resided in such 
district, or an adjoining district,* long 
enough before such appointment, or elec¬ 
tion, to have acquired the right of voting 
in the same. 

Art. 96. The duration of all offices not 
fixed by this constitution, shall never ex¬ 
ceed four years. 

Art. 97. All civil officers, except the 
governor and judges of the supreme and 
district courts, shall be removeable by an 
• address of a majority of the members of 
both houses, except those the removal oj 
whom has been otherwise provided for by 
this constitution. 

Art. 98. Absence on business of this 
State or of the United State, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
under the exceptions contained in this con¬ 
stitution. 

Art 99. It shall be the duty of the le¬ 
gislature to provide by law for deductions 
from the salaries of public officers who 
may be guilty of a neglect of duty. 

Art. 100. The legislature shall point 
out the manner in which a person coming 
into the State shall declare his residence. 

Art. 101. In all elections by the people 
the vote shall be by ballot, and in all elec¬ 
tions by the senate and house of represen¬ 
tatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall 
be given viva. voce. 

Art. 102. No member of congress, nor 
person holding or exercising any office of 
trust or profit under the United States, or 
either of them, or under any foreign power, 


shall be eligible ai?a member of the gene¬ 
ral assembly, or hold or exercise any office 
of trust or protit under the State. 

Art. 103. The. laws, the public records 
and the judicial and legislative written pro¬ 
ceedings of the State, shall be promulgated, 
preserved and conducted in the language 
in which the constitution of the United 
States is written. 

Art. 104. The secretary of the senate, 
and clerk of the house of representatives, 
shall be conversant with the French and 
English languages, and members may ad¬ 
dress either house in the French or English 
language. 

Art. 105 The general assembly shall 
direct by law, how persons who are now, 
or may hereafter become sureties for pub¬ 
lic officers, may be discharged from such 
suretyship. 

Art. 106. No power of suspending the 
laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 
by the Legislature or its authority. 

Art, 107. Prosecutions shall be by in¬ 
dictment, or information. The accused 
shall have a speedy public trial by an im¬ 
partial jury of the vicinage : he shall not be 
compelled to give evidence against himself; 
he shall have the right of being heard by 
himself or counsel; he shall have the right, 
unless he shall have fled from justice, of 
meeting the witnesses face to face, and 
shall have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor. 

Art. 108. All prisoners shall be baila¬ 
ble by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences, where the proof is evident, or pre¬ 
sumption great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall hot be suspen¬ 
ded, unless when in case of rebellion or in¬ 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Art. 109. No ex post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall be passed; nor vested rights be di¬ 
vested unless for purposes of public utility, 
and for adequate compensation previously 
made, 

Art. 110. The press shall be free. Ev¬ 
ery citizen may freely speak, write and pub¬ 
lish his sentiments on all subjects; being 
responsible for an abuse of this liberty. 

Art. 111 . Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Art. 112 . The general assembly which 
shall meet after the first election of repre¬ 
sentatives under this Constitution, shall, 



335 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 


within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route ; and 
if on the Mississippi river, by the mean¬ 
ders of the same : and when so fixed, it 
shall not be removed without the consent 
of four fifths of the members of both hous¬ 
es of the general assembly. The sessions 
shall be held in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 

Art. 113. The legislature shall not 
pledge the faith of the State for the pay¬ 
ment of any bonds, bills, or other contracts 
or obligations for the benefit or use of any 
person or persons, corporation or body po¬ 
litic whatever. But the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its outstanbing obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, are not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

Art. 114. The aggregate amount of 
debts hereafter contracted by the legisla¬ 
ture, shall never exceed the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars, except in case 
of war, to repel invasions or suppres insur¬ 
rections, unless the same be authorized by 
some law, for some single object or work, to 
be distinctly specified therein ; which law 
shall provide ways and means, by taxation, 
for the payment of running interest during 
the whole time far which said debt shall be 
contracted, and for the full and punctual 
discharge at maturity, of the capital bor¬ 
rowed ; and said law shall be irrepealable 
until principal and interest are fully paid 
and discharged, and shall not be put into 
execution until after its enactment by the 
first legislature returned by a general 
election after its passage.- 

Art. 115, The legislature shall pro. 
vide by law for a. change of venue in civil 
and criminal cases. 

Art. 116. No lottery’shall be author, 
ized by this State, and the buying or selling 
of lottery tickets wiihin the State is prohi¬ 
bited. 

Art.- 117. No divorce shall be granted 
by the Legislature. 

Art. 118. Every law enacted by the le¬ 
gislature shall embrace but one object, and 
that shall be expressed in the title. 


Art. 119. No law shall be revived or 
amended by reference to its title ; but in 
such case, the act revived, or section amen¬ 
ded, shall be re-enacted and published at 
length. 

Art. 120. The legislature shall never 
adopt any system or code of laws by gene¬ 
ral reference to such system or code of 
laws ; but in all cases shall specify the sev¬ 
eral provisions of the laws it may enact. 

Art. 121. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stock of any corporation 
or joint stock company. 

Art. 122. No corporate body shall bo 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with banking or discounting privileges. 

Art. 123. Corporations shall not be 
created in this State by special laws, ex¬ 
cept for political or municipal purposes; 
but the legislature shall provide by gene¬ 
ral lav/s, for the organization of all other 
corporations, except corporations with ban¬ 
king or discounting privileges, the creation 
of which is prohibited. 

Art. 124. From and after the month of 
January, 1890, the legislature shall have 
the power to revoke the charters of all cor¬ 
porations whose charters shall not have 
expired previous to that time, and no cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created shall ever 
endure for a longer term than twenty-five 
years, except those which are political or 
municipal. 

Art. 125. The general assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, for a longer period than twenty 
years. 

Art. 126. No person shall hold or ex¬ 
ercise, at the same time, more than one 
civil office of emolument, except that of 
justice of the peace. 

Art. 127. Taxation shall be equal and 
uniform throughout the State. After the 
year 1848 all property, on which taxes 
may be levied in this State, shall be taxed 
in proportion to its value, to be ascertained 
as directed by law. No one species of 
property shall be taxed higher than ano¬ 
ther species-of property of equal value, on 
which taxes shall be levied; the legisla¬ 
ture shall have power to levy an income 
tax, and to tax all persons pursuing any 
occupation, trade or profession. 

Art. 128. The citizens of the city of 
New Orleans shall have the right of ap¬ 
pointing the several public officers ncces- 



I 


33(j Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


sary for the administration of the police of 
the said city, pursuant to the mode of elec¬ 
tions which shall be prescribed by the 
legislature; provided, that the mayor and 
recorders shall be ineligible to a seat in 
the general assembly; and the mayor, re¬ 
corders and aldermen shall be commission¬ 
ed by the governor as justices ot the peace, 
and the legislature may vest in them such 
criminal jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the punishment of minor crimes and 
offences, and as the police and good order 
of said city may require. 

Art. 129. The legislature may provide 
by law in what case officers shall continue 
to perform the duties of their offices until 
their successors shall have been inducted 
into office. 

Art. 130. Any citizen of this State who 
shall, after the adoption of this constitution, 
fight a duel with deadly weapons with a 
citizen of this State, or send or accept a 
challenge to fight a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, either within the State or out of it, 
with a citizen of this State, or who shall 
act as second, or knowingly aid and assist 
in any manner those thus offending, shall 
be deprived of holding any office of trust 
or profit, and of enjoying the right of suf¬ 
frage under this constitution. 

Art. 131. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over any territory 
acquired by compact with any State, or 
with the United States, the same being 
done by the consent of the United States. 

Art. 132. The constitution and laws of 
this State, shall be promulgated in the En¬ 
glish and French languages. 

TITLE VII. 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Art. 133. There shall be appointed a 
superintendent of public education, who 
shall hold his office for two years. His 
duties shall be prescribed by law. He 
shall receive compensation as the legisla¬ 
ture may direct. 

Art. 134. The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means for their support 
by taxation on property or otherwise. 

Art. 135. The proceeds of all lands 
heretofore granted by the United States to 
this State for the use or support of schools, 
and of all lands which may hereafter be 
granted or bequeathed to the State, and not 


expressly granted or bequeathed for any 
other purpose, which hereafter may be 
disposed of by the State, and the proceeds 
of the estates of deceased persons to which 
the State may become entitled by law, 
shall be held' by the State as a loan, and 
shall bo and remain a perpetual fund, on 
which the State shall pay an annual inter¬ 
est of six per cent; which interest together 
with all the rents of the unsold lands, shall 
be appropriated to the support of such 
schools, and this appropriation shall remain 
inviolable. 

Art. 136. All moneys arising from the 
sale which have been or may hereafter be 
made of any lands heretofore granted by the 
United States to this State, for the use of a 
seminary of learning, and from any kind of 
donation that may hereafter be made for 
that purpose, shall be and remain a perpet¬ 
ual fund, the interest of which at six per 
cent per annum, shall be appropriated to' 
the support of a seminary of learning for 
the promotion of literature and the arts and 
sciences, and no law shall ever be made J 
diverting said fund to any other use than to 
the establislimeht and improvement of said 
seminary of learning. 

Art. 137. An university shall be estab¬ 
lished in the city of New Orleans. It shall 
be composed of four faculties, to wit: one 
of law, one of medicine, one of the natural 
sciences, and one of letters. 

Art. 138. It shall be called “ the Uni¬ 
versity ofLouisiana,” and the Medical Col¬ 
lege of Louisian as at present organized, 
shall constitute the faculty of medicine. 

Art. 139. The legislature shall provide 
by law, for its further organization and go¬ 
vernment; but shall be under no obligation 
to contribute to the establishment or sup¬ 
port of said university by appropriations. 
TITLE VIII, 

MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. 140. Any amendment or amend*- 
ments to this Constitution may be propo¬ 
sed to the senate or house of representa¬ 
tives, and if the same shall be agreed to 
by three-fifths of the members elected to 
each house, and approved by the governor, 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be entered on their journals, with 
the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the 
secretary of state shall cause the same to 
be published, three months before the next 
general election, in at least one newspa- 




337 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


pers in French and English, in every parish 
in the State in which a newspaper shall 
be published; and if, in the legislature next 
afterwards chosen, such proposed amend¬ 
ment or amendments shall be agreed to by 
a majority of the members elected to each 
house, the secretary of state shall cause 
the same again to be published in the man¬ 
ner aforesaid, at least three months pre¬ 
vious to the next general election for re¬ 
presentatives to the State legislature, and 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be submitted to the people at said 
election; and if a majority of the qualified 
electors shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments, the same shall 
become a part of the constitution. If more 
than one amendment be submitted at a 
time, they shall be submitted in such man¬ 
ner and form that the people may vote for 
or against each amendment, separately. 
TITLE IX. 

SCHEDULE. 

\ 

Art. 141. The Constitution adopted in 
1812 is declared to be superseded by this 
Constitution, and in order to carry the same 
into affect, it is hereby declared and ordain¬ 
ed as folllovvs : 

Art. 142. All rights, actions, prosecu¬ 
tions, claims and contracts, as well of indi¬ 
viduals as of bodies corporate, and all laws 
in force at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith 
shall continue as if the same had not been 
adopted. 

Art. 143. Until the first enumeration 
shall be made as directed in article eighth, 
of this Constitution, the parish of Orleans 
shall ha\ r e twenty representatives, to be 
elected as follows, viz: 

Eight by the First Municipality, seven 
by the Second Municipality, and four by 
the Third Municipality, to be distributed 
among the nine representative districts as 
follows, by allotting to the 


First district, two Rep. 

Second “ two 

Third “ three 

Fourth “ three 

Fifth “ three 

Sixth “ two 

Seventh “ two 

Eighth “ one 

Ninth “ one 

And to that part of the parish on the right 
bank of the Mississippi, one 
43 


The parish of Plaquemines, 


it 

shall have 

St. Bernard, 

three 

one 

it 

Jefferson, 

three 

ii 

St. Charles, 

one 

ii 

St. John the Baptist, 

one 

it 

St. James, 

two 

ii 

Ascension, 

two 

it 

Assumption, 

three 

tt 

Lafourche Interior, 

three 

fi 

Terrebone, 

two 

ii 

Iberville, 

two 

The parish of West Baton Rouge, one 

ii 

East do. 

three 

ti 

West Feliciana, 

two 

ti 

East do 

three 

it 

St. Helena, 

one 

tt 

W ashington, 

one 

it 

Livingston, 

St. Tammany, 

one 

tt 

one 

tt 

Point Coupee, 

one 

tt 

Concordia, 

one 

n 

Tensas, 

one 

tt 

Madison, 

one 

ii 

Carroll, 

one 

tt 

Franklin, 

one 

ii 

St. Mary, 

two 

tt 

St. Martin, 

three 

tt 

Vermillion, 

one 

it 

Lafayette, 

St. Landry, 

two 

t< 

five 

it 

Calcasieu, 

one 

ii 

Avoyelles 

two 

tt 

Rapides, 

three 

it 

Natchitoches, 

three 

it 

Sabine, 

two 

tt 

Caddo, 

one 

tt 

De Soto, 

one 

tt 

Ouachita, 

one 

tt 

Morehouse, 

one 

tt 

Union 

one 

it 

Jackson, 

one 

it 

Caldwell, 

one 

it 

Catahoula, 

two 

it 

Claiborne, 

two 

it 

Bossier, 

one 


Total, ninety-eight. 

And the State shall be divided into the 
following senatorial districts: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators; 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St. Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the right bank of the river, 





838 Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


shall compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district with one senator; 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators; 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator; 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
one distrtct, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators; 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house and Ouachita shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 


The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

And whenever a new parish shall be crea¬ 
ted,it shall be attached to the senatorial dis¬ 
trict from which most of its territory was 
taken or to another contiguous district at 
thediscretion of the legislature, butshallnot 
be attached to more than one district. 

Art. 144. In order that no inconveni¬ 
ence may result to the public service from 
the taking effect of this Constititution, no 
office shall be superseded thereby ; but the 
laws of the State relative to the duties of 
the several officers, executive, judicial and 
military, shall remain in full force, though 
the same be contrary to this Constitution, 
and the several duties shall be performed 
by the respective office) s of the State accor¬ 
ding to the existing laws, until the organi¬ 
zation of the government under this Con¬ 
stitution, and the entering into office of the 
new officers, to be appointed under said 
government, and no longer. 

Art. 145. Appointments to office by 
the executive under this Constitutton, shall 
be made by the governor to be elected un¬ 
der its authority. 

Art. 146. The provisions of article 28, 
concerning the inability of members of the 
legislature to hold certain offices therein 
mentioned, shall not be held to apply to 
the members of the first legislature elected 
unde r this Constitution. 

Art. 147. The time of service of all of¬ 
ficers chosen by the people, at the first 
election under this Constitution, shall ter¬ 
minate as though the election had been hol- 
den on the first Monday of November 
1845, and they had entered on the discharge 
of their duties at the time designated therein. 

Art. 148. The legislature shall provide 
for the removal of all causes now pending 
in the supreme or other courts of the 
courts under the Constitution of 1812, to 
State created by this Constitution. 

Art. 149. Appeals to the supreme 
court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, 
Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachi¬ 
ta, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, 
and Concoreia, shall until otherwise provi¬ 
ded for, be returnable to Ne w Orleans, 





339 


Journal of the Contention of Louisiana, 


TITLE X. 

ORDINANCE. 

Art. 150. Immediately after the ad¬ 
journment of the Convention, the governor 
shall issue his proclamation, directing the 
several officers of this State authorized by 
law to hold elections for members of 
the general assembly, to open and hold a ! 
poll in every parish of the State, at the pia. 
ces designated by law, upon the first Mon¬ 
day of November next, for the purpose of 
taking the sense of the good people of 
this State in regard to the adoption or re¬ 
jection of this constitution ; and it shall be 
the duty of the said officers to recive the votes 
of all persons entitled to vote under the 
old constitution and under this constitution. 
Each voter shall express his opinion by 
depositing in the ballot-box a ticket where¬ 
on shall be written “the constitution ac¬ 
cepted,” or “the constitution rejected,” or 
some such words as will distinctly convey 
the intention of the voter. At the conclu¬ 
sion of the said election, which shall be 
conducted in every respect as the general 
State election is now conducted, the parish 
judges and commissioners designated to 
preside over the same, shall carefully exam¬ 
ine and count each ballot so deposited, and 
shall forthwith make due returns thereof to 
the secretary of state, in conformity to the 
provisions of the existing law upon the sub¬ 
ject of elections. 

Art. 151. Upon the receipt of the said 
returns, or on the first Monday of Decem¬ 
ber, if the returns be not sooner received, 
it shall be the duty of the governor, the 
secretary of state, the attorney general, 
and the state treasurer, in the presence of 
all such persons as may choose to attend, to 
compare the votes given at the said poll, 
for the ratification and rejection of this 
constitution, and if it shall appear from 
said returns that a majority of all the votes 
given is for ratifying this constitution, then 
it shall be the duty of the governor to make 
proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth 
this constitution shall be ordained and es¬ 
tablished as the constitution of the State of 
Louisiana. But whether this constitution 
be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty 
of the governor to cause to be published 
in the State paper the result of the polls, 
showing the number of votes cast in each 
parish, for and against the said constitution. 

Art. 152. Should this constitution be 


accepted by the people, it shall also be the 
duty ot the governor forthwith to issue his 
proclamation declaring the present legisla¬ 
ture elected under the old constitution, to 
be dissolved, and directing the several offi¬ 
cers of the State, authorized by law, to hold 
elections for members of the general assem- 
bly, to hold an election at the places des¬ 
ignated by law, on the third Monday in 
January next, (1846) for governor, lieu¬ 
tenant governor, members of the general 
assembly, and all other officers whose elec¬ 
tion is provided for pursuant to the provis¬ 
ions of this constitution. And the said 
election shall be conducted and the returns 
thereof made in conformity with existing 
laws upon the subject of State elections. 

Art. 153. The general assembly elec¬ 
ted under this constitution shall convene at 
the state house, in the city of New Orleans, 
upon the second Monday of February next, 
(1846) after the elections; and that the 
governor and lieutenant governor, elected 
at the same time, shall be duly installed in 
office during the first week of their session, 
and before it shall be competent for the 
said general assembly to proceed with the 
transaction of business. 

Mr. Roman submitted the following 
reasons for not voting in favor of the adop¬ 
tion of the constitution, and the same were 
ordered to be inserted in the journal, viz: 

I will vote against the adoption, because 
I think that this Convention would never 
have been called, if a majority of the peo¬ 
ple would have foreseen that the constitu¬ 
tion of 1812 would be entirely put down, 
and another adopted, in which almost every 
conservative principle has been set aside. 

Because in extending the right of suf¬ 
frage, sufficient care has not been taken to 
confide it to those only who are identified 
with the State, and no guide has been 
given to the officers who are to preside 
over the elections to enable them to decide, 
who are those who ought and those who 
ought not to vote. 

Because the senate has been so framed 
as to form no check in the popular branch 
of the legislature, and this last has been 
rendered so numerous as to be too un- 
wieldly and too expensive. 

Because the tenure of office of the judges 
of the supreme and district courts is such 
as not to render them independent of the 
party politics of the day, and the election 







340 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


by the people of justices of the peace, 
clerks of courts and sheriffs, is calculated 
to jeopardize still more the impartial ad¬ 
ministration of justice. 

For these reasons, and also because a 
part of this constitution is actually put in 
force without being submitted to the assent 
of the people, I vote No. 

Mr. Kenner offered the following reso¬ 
lution, and the same was unanimously 
adopted, viz: 

“Resolved , That the thanks of this Con¬ 
vention be tendered to the Hon. Joseph 
Walker, president of the Convention, for 
the able and impartial manner with which 
lie has presided over our deliberations. 

Mr. Cade submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, and the same was unanimously 
adopted, viz : 

Resolved , That the thanks of this Con¬ 
vention be tendered to Horatio Davis, Esq., 
our secretary, for his assiduous attention to 
business, and for the correct and faithful 
discharge of his important duties. 

Mr. Sellers submitted the following 
resolution, and the same was unanimously 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Con¬ 
vention be tendered to the clergy of this 
City. 

Mr. Beatty offered the following reso¬ 
lution, viz: 

Resolved, That the secretary and minute 
clerk, and other clerks, be continued in 
their functions for a space not exceeding 
one month from the adjournment of this 
Convention, and that the secretary be di¬ 
rected to superintend the printing and dis¬ 
tribution of the. debates and constitution, 
and completion of the journals. That the 
secretary be authorized to draw his own 
warrant for their compensation, 

Mr. Downs moved to amend said reso¬ 
lution, by adding “and the printers to the 
Convention.” 

Mr. Downs moved to lay the resolution 
and amendment on the table, subject to 
call; which motion was lost. 

Mr, Cade then moved to lay the amend¬ 
ment on the table indefinitely; which mo¬ 
tion prevailed. 

On motion of Mr. Beatty, the resolu¬ 
tion was adopted. 

Mr. Garcia submitted the following 
resolution, viz: 

v Resolved , That an additional compen¬ 


sation at the rate of two dollars per day, 
from the commencement of the session at 
New Orleans to the close of their labors, 
be allowed to each of the reporters, Messrs. 
Foulhouse and Kerr. 

Mr. Garcia moved for the adoption of 
the above resolution; which motion was 
lost. 

Mr. Guion offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved, That the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be instructed to enquire 
whether any additional compensation ought 
to be granted to the English and French 
printers to this Convention. 

Mr. Soule offered the following resolu- 
tion, viz: 

Resolved, That a period not to exceed 
thirty days be allowed to the reporters to 
conclude their labors, in compensation for 
which they shall be paid by the treasurer 
on their warrant, countersigned by the 
secretary! 

Mr. Brent moved to amend the same 
by inserting “fifteen” instead of “thirty 
days;” which motion was lost. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow at 9 o’clock, a. m. 


Tiirusday, May 15, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro¬ 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Read offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved, That the sum of twelve dol¬ 
lars be allowed John E. Layet, for services 
rendered as additional clerk for two days. 

Mr. Read then offered the following 
resolution, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved. That the sum of one hundred 
dollars be allowed D. O. Nadaud, as extra 
compensation for his services as recording 
clerk. 

On motion, the committee of enrollment 
was authorized to fix the compensation of 
the enrolling and engrossing clerks, and 
draw a warrant on the treasury for the 
payment of the same. 

Mr. Chinn moved that an additional 
compensation of one hundred dollars be al¬ 
lowed to Mr. James Carpenter, sergeant-at- 
arms. 

Mr. Downs moved to amend the said 
resolution by adding the same compensa- 








Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 341 


tion to all the other officers of the Conven¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Lewis moved to lay the resolution 
and amendment on the table indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Claiborne, Con¬ 
rad of Jefferson, DuBouchel, Eustis, Hud¬ 
speth, Humble, Labauve, Ledoux, Legen¬ 
dre, Lewis, McCallop, McRae, Mazureau, 
Peets, Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Saunders, Scott of Baton Rouge, Sellers, 
Splane, Taylor of Assumption, Taylor of 
St. Landry, Voorhies Waddill and Wads¬ 
worth voted in the affirmative—31 yeas, 
and 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Derbes, 
Marigny, Porter, Scott of Madison, Soule 
and Wederstrandt voted in the negative—9 
nays, consequently said motion was car¬ 
ried. 

Mr. McCallop moved that James Car¬ 
penter be allowed mileage to and from 
Jackson to New Orleans. 

Mr. Derbes moved to amend the same 
by allowing mileage to the other officers. 

Mr. Cade moved to lay the motion of 
Mr. McCallop, and amendment, on the ta¬ 
ble indefinitely. 

The yeas and nays being called for, 

Messrs. Benjamin, Brazeale, Brumfield, 
Brent, Burton, Cade, Chambliss, Conrad 
of Jefferson, Covillion, DuBouchel, Hum¬ 
ble, Labauve, Lewis, McRae, Mazureau, 
Prescott of St. Landry, Prudhomme, 
Splane, Stephens and Voorhies voted in 
the affirmative—20 yeas; and 

Messrs. Briant, Cenas, Chinn, Derbes, 
Dunn, Eustis, Garcia, Legendre, McCal¬ 
lop, Marigny, Porter, Read, Scott of Baton 
Rouge, Soule and Wederstrandt voted in 
the negative—15 nays; consequently said 
motion was carried. 

Mr. Soule submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, which was read and adopted, viz: 

Resolved , That a period not to exceed 
thirty days be allowed to the reporters to 
conclude their labors, in compensation for 
which they shall be paid by the treasurer 
on their warrant, countersigned by the 
secretary. 

Mr. Cenas submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, and the same was unanimously 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , That the thanks of this Con¬ 
vention be tendered to Wm. Debuys, Esq., 


state treasurer, for his kindness in assum¬ 
ing the troublesome task of keeping the 
account and paying the warrants of the 
members of the Convention. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, offered the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , That when the Convention 
adjourns this day it will adjourn to meet at 
12 o’clock, m., to-morrow. 

Mr. Taylor of Assumption, offered the 
following resolution, and the same was 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved by the Convention , That the 
president be authorized to close the ses¬ 
sion of the Convention, by adjourning it on 
to-morrow, the 16th day of May, 1845, 
sine die. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned 
till to-morrow, at 12 o’clock, m. 


Friday, May 16, 1845. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjourn¬ 
ment. 

The Rev. Mr. Clark opened the pro* 
ceedings with prayer. 

Mr. Read offered the following resolu¬ 
tion, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved , (that the committee on con¬ 
tingent expenses be authorized to issue a 
warrant in favor of James Carpenter for 
the sum of three dollars. 

Mr. Read submitted the following reso¬ 
lution, and the same was unanimously 
adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that the sum of two hundred 
dollars be allowed A. Duplantier, as extra 
compensation for his faithful and laborious 
services in the capacity of minute clerk, 
and that the committee on contingent ex¬ 
penses be authorized to issue a warrant for 
said sum. 

Mr. Lewis submitted the following res¬ 
olution, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that the committee on con. 
tingent expenses be authorized to advance 
to the secretary of this convention the 
amount of his per diem for thirty days 
services, to be rendered by him after the 
adjournment on this day. 

On motion the sum of one hundred dol¬ 
lars was allowed Gaspard Debuys for ser¬ 
vices rendered as assistant recording clerk. 

Mr. Mayo submitted the following res¬ 
olution, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that five thousand copies of 






312 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


the new constitution, in the English, and 
the same number in the French language, 
he printed under the direction of the sec¬ 
retary of the Convention, and distributed 
by him to the members for the use ot their 
constituents, at the expense ol the State; 
provided he can procure the same to be 
done at an expense not exceeding three 
hundred dolars. 

Mr. Roselius submitted the following 
resolution, and the same was adopted, viz: 

Resolved, that the sum of one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars be paid by the 
treasurer of the State to Besanqon, Fer- 
guson &l Co., for printing the reports and 
bills of the House, since the bill allowed 
by the Convention; and that the secretary 
of the Convention be instructed to pay the 
printers of the Convention at the rate ol 
two dollars per page, lor such number ol 
pages as mry be printed after the period 
of such allowance, to complete the work. 

Mr. Marigny submitted the following 
resolution, and the same was adpted, viz: 

Resolved, that the sum of two hundred 
dollars be allowed to Mr. Foulhouse, and 
the sum of two hundred dollars be allowed 
to Mr. R. J. Kerr, as a compensation lor 
their services as reporters of the Conven¬ 
tion. 

Mr. Culbertson submitted the following 
resolution, and the same was adopted, viz : 

Resolved, that the sum of one hundred 
dollars be allowed Mr. Alexander Derbes, 
and that the sum of one hundred dollars 
be allowed Theodule Montreuil, as an ex¬ 
tra compensation for services rendered as 
translating clerks. 

Mr. Garcia submitted the following 
resolution, and the same was adopted, 
viz: 

Resolved, that the translator of the 
constitution, Edward Louvet, Esq., be al¬ 
lowed his per diem, at the rate of eight 
dollars, and that he receive the same com- 
pensation which was allowed to the other 
translating clerks. 

O # 

Mr. Soule, chairman of the committee 
of enrolment, reported the constitution en- 
roled, viz: 

CONSTITUTION OF THE 
STATE OF LOUISIANA. 

PREAMBLE. 

We the people of the State of Louisiana 
do ordain and establish this Constitution. 


TITLE I. 

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS. 

Art. 1 . The powers of the government 
of the State of Louisiana shall be divided 
into three distinct departments, and each 
of them be confided to a separate body of 
magistracy, to wit: those which are legis¬ 
lative to one; those which are executive to 
another, and those which are judicial to 
another. 

Art. 2. No one of these departments, 
nor any person holding office in one of 
them, shall exercise power properly be¬ 
longing to either of the others, except in 
the instances hereinafter expressly direct¬ 
ed or permitted. 

TITLE II. 

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 3. The legislative powers of the * 
State shall be vested in two distinct branch¬ 
es, the one to be styled the “house of rep¬ 
resentatives,” the other “the senate,” and 
both “the general assembly of the State 
of Louisiana.” 

Art. 4. The members of the house of 
representatives shall continue in service 
for the term of two years from the day of 
the closing of the. general elections. 

Art. 5. Representatives shall be chosen 
on the first Monday in November, every 
two years; and the election shall be com¬ 
pleted in one day. The general assembly 
shall meet every second year, on the third 
Monday in January next ensuing the elec¬ 
tion, unless a different day be appointed 
by law, and their session shall be held at 
the seat of government. 

Art. 6. No person shall be a represen¬ 
tative, who, at the time of his election, is 
not a free white male, and has not been for 
three years a citizen of the United States, 
and has not attained the age of twenty-one 
years, and resided in the State for the three 
years next preceding the election, and the 
last year thereof in the parish for which 
he may be chosen. 

Art. 7. Elections for representatives 
for the several parishes or representative 
districts shall be held at the several elec¬ 
tion prefcincts established by law. The 
legislature may delegate the power of es¬ 
tablishing election precincts to the paro¬ 
chial or municipal authorities. 

Art. 8. Representation in the house of 
representatives, shall be equal and uniform, 
and shall be regulated and ascertained by 






Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana. 3 \ 3 


the number of qualified electors. Each 
parish shall have at least one representa¬ 
tive; no new parish shall be created with 
a territory less than six hundred and twen¬ 
ty-five square miles, ner with a number ot 
electors less than the full number entitling 
it to a representative, nor when the crea¬ 
tion ot such new parish would leave any 
other parish without the said extent of ter¬ 
ritory and number of electors. 

The first enumeration to be made by the 
State authorities under this constitution 
shall be made in the year J 847, the second 
in the year 1855; and the subsequent enu¬ 
merations shall be made every tenth year 
thereafter, in such manner as shall be pre¬ 
scribed by law for the purpose of ascer¬ 
taining the total population and the number 
of qualified electors in each parish and 
election district. 

At the first regular session of the legis¬ 
lature after the making of each enumera¬ 
tion, the legislature shall apportion the re¬ 
presentation amongst the several parishes 
and election districts on the basis of quali¬ 
fied electors as aforesaid. A representa¬ 
tive number shall be fixed, and each parish 
and election district shall have as many 
representatives as the aggregate number 
of its electors will entitle it to, and an 
additional representative for any fraction 
exceeding one half the representative 
number. The number of representatives 
shall not be more than one hundred nor 
less than seventy. 

That part of the parish of Orleans situ¬ 
ated on the left bank of the Mississippi, 
shall be divided into nine representative 
districts, as follows, viz : 

1st. First district to extend from the line 
of the parish of Jefferson to the middle of 
Benjamin, Estelle and Thalia streets. 

2d. Second district to extend from the 
last mentioned limits to the middle of 
Julia street, until it strikes the New Or¬ 
leans canal, thence down said canal to the 
lake. 

3d. Third district to comprise the resi¬ 
due of the Second Municipality. 

4th. Fourth district to extend from the 
middle of Canal street to the middle of 
St. Louis street, until it reaches the Me¬ 
tairie road, thence along said road to the 
New Orleans canal. 

5th. Fifth district to extend from the last 


mentioned limits to the middle of St. Philip 
street, thence down said street until its in¬ 
tersection with the bayou St. John, thence 
along the middle of said bayou until it in¬ 
tersects the Metairie road, thence along said 
road until it reaches St. Louis street. 

6th. Sixth district to be composed of the 
residue of the First Municipality. 

7th. Seventh district, from the middle 
Esplanade street to the middle of Champs 
Elysees street. 

8th. Eighth district, from the middle of 
Champs Elysees street to the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue. 

9th. Ninth district, from the middle of 
Enghein street and Lafayette Avenue to 
the lower limits of the parish. 

Art. 9. The house of representatives 
shall choose its speaker and other officers. 

Art. 10. In all elections by the people, 
every free white male who has attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and resided 
in the State two consecutive years next 
preceding the election, and the last year 
thereof in the parish in which he offers 
to vote, shall have the right of voting. 
Provided , that no person shall be deprived 
of the right of voting who at the time of 
the adoption of this constitution was enti¬ 
tled to that right under the constitution of 
1812. Electors shall, in all cases, except 
treason, felony, breach or surety of the 
peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at, going to, or returning 
from elections. 

Art. 11. Absence from the State for more 
than ninety consecutive days, shall inter¬ 
rupt the acquisition of the residence requi. 
red in the preceding article, unless the 
person absenting himself shall be a house¬ 
keeper, or shall occupy a tenement for car¬ 
rying on business, and his dwelling house 
or tenementfor carrying on business shall 
be actually occupied during his absence, by 
his family or servants, or some portion 
thereof, or by some one employed by him. 

Art. 12. No soldier, seaman or marine 
in the army or navy of the United States, 
no pauper, no person under interdiction, nor 
under conviction of any crime punishable 
with hard labor, shall be entitled to vote 
at any election in the State. 

Art. 13. No person shall be entitled to 
vote at any election held in this State, ex¬ 
cept in the parish of his residence, and in 




344 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


cities and towns divided into election pre¬ 
cincts, in the election precinct in which 
he resides. 

Art. 14. The members of the senate 
shall be chosen for the term of four years. 
The senate when assembled, shall have 
the power to choose its officers every two 
years. 

Art. 15. The legislature in every year in 
which they shall apportion representation in 
the house of representatives shall divide the 
State into senatorial districts. No parish 
shall be divided in the formation of a sena¬ 
torial district, the parish of Orleans ex¬ 
cepted. And whenever a new parish shall 
be created, it shall be attached to the sena¬ 
torial district from which most of its ter¬ 
ritory was taken, or to another contiguous 
district, at the discretion of the legislature; 
but shall not be attached to more than one 
district. The number of senators shall be 
thirty-two, and they shall be apportioned 
among the senatorial districts according to 
the total population contained in the seve¬ 
ral districts: Provided , that no parish shall 
be entitled to more than one-eighth of the 
whole number of senators. 

Art. 16. In all apportionments of the 
senate, the population of the city of New 
Orleans shall be deducted from-the popu¬ 
lation of the whole State, and the remain¬ 
der of the population divided by the number 
twenty eight, and v the result produced by 
this division shall be the senatorial ratio 
entitling a senatorial district to a senator. 
Single or contiguous parishes shall be 
formed into districts having a population 
the nearest possible to the number entitling 
a district to a senator; and if in the appor¬ 
tionment to be made, a parish or district 
fall short of or exceed the ratio, one-fifth, 
then a district may be formed having not 
more than two senators, but not otherwise. 

No new apportionment shall have the 
effect of abridging the term of service of 
any senator already elected at the time of 
making the apportionment. 

After an enumeration has been made as 
directed in the eighth article, the legisla¬ 
ture shall not pass any laws until an ap¬ 
portionment of the representation in both 
houses of the general assembly be made. 

Art. 17. At the first session of the 
general assembly, after this constitution 
takes effect, the senators shall be equally 
divided by lot into two classes; the seats 


of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year; so that one-half shall be chosen 
every two years, and a rotation thereby kept 
up perpetually. In case any district shall 
have elected two or more senators, said 
senators shall vacate their seats respective¬ 
ly at the end of two and four years, and 
the lots shall be drawn between them. 

Art. 18. No person shall be a senator, 
who at the time of his election, has not 
been a citizen of the United States ten 
years, and who has not attained the age of 
twenty-seven years,and resided in the State 
four years next preceding his election, 
and the last year thereof in the district in 
which he may be chosen. 

Art. 19. The first election for senators 
shall be general throughout the State, and 
at the same time that the general election 
for representatives is held; and thereafter 
there shall be biennial elections to fill the 
place of those whose time of service may 
have expired. 

Art. 20. Not less than a majority of the 
members of each house of the general as¬ 
sembly shall form a quorum to do business; 
but a smaller number may adjourn from 
day to day, and shall be authorised by 
law to compel the attendance of absent 
members. 

Art. 21. Each house of the general 
assembly shall judge of the qualification, 
election and returns of its members; but a 
contested election shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be directed by law. 

Art. 22. Each house of the general 
Assembly may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish a member for disor¬ 
derly behavior, and with the concurrence 
of two-thirds expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same offence. 

Art. 23. Each house of the general as. 
sembly shall keep and publish weekly a 
journal of its proceedings; and the yeas 
and nays of the members on any question 
shall, at the desire of any two of them, be 
entered on the journal. 

Art. 24. Each house may punish by im¬ 
prisonment any person not a member, for 
disrespectful and disorderly behavior, in 
its presence or for obstructing any of its 
proceedings. Such imprisonment shall not 
exceed ten days for any one offence. 

Art. 25. Neither house, during the ses¬ 
sion of the general assembly, shall without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 345 


of the senators of the first class shall he va¬ 
cated at the expiration of the second year, 
than three days, nor to any other place 
than that in which they may be sitting. 

Art. 26. The members of the general 
assembly shall receive from the public 
treasury a compensation for their services, 
which shall be four dollars per day during 
their attendance, going to and returning 
from the session of their respective houses. 
The compensation may be increased or 
diminished by law; but no alteration shall 
take effect during the period of service of 
the members of the house of representa¬ 
tives by whom such alterations shall have 
been made. No session shall extend to a 
period beyond sixty days, to date from its 
commencement, and any legislative action 
had after the expiration of the said sixty 
days, shall be null and void. This pro¬ 
vision shall not apply to the first legisla¬ 
ture which is to convene after the adoption 
of this constitution. 

Art. 27. The members of the general 
assembly shall, in all cases except treason, 
felony, breach or surety of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attend¬ 
ance at the sessions of their respective 
houses; and going to or returning from the 
same, and for any speech or debate in 
either house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Art. 25. No senator or representative 
shall, during the term for which he was 
elected, nor for one year thereafter, be ap¬ 
pointed or elected to any civil office of 
profit under this State, which shall have 
been created or the emoluments of which 
shall have been increased during the time 
such senator or representative was in 
office, except to such offices or appoint¬ 
ments as may be filled by the elections of 
the people. 

Art. 29. No person, while he continues 
to exercise the functions of a clergyman, 
priest or teacher of any religious persua¬ 
sion, society or sect, shall be eligible to 
the general assembly. 

Art. 30. No person who at any time 
may have been a collector of taxes, or who 
may have been otherwise entrusted with 
public money, shall be eligible to the 
general assembly, or to any other office of 
profit or trust under the State government, 
until he shall have obtained a discharge 
for the amount of such collections, and for 
44 


all public moneys with which he may 
have been entrusted. 

Art. 31. No bill shall have the force of 
a law until on three several days, it be read 
over in each house of the general assem¬ 
bly, and lree discussion allowed thereon, 
unless in case of urgency, four-fifths of the 
house, Where the bill shall be pending, may 
deem it expedient to dispense with this rule. 

Art. 32. All bills for raising revenue 
shall originate in the house of representa¬ 
tives. but the senate may propose amend¬ 
ments as in other bills; provided , they 
shall not introduce any new matter under 
the color of an amendment which does not 
relate to raising revenue. 

Art. 33. The general assembly shall 
regulate by law, by whom, and in what 
manner, writs of election shall be issued, 
to fill the vacancies which may happen in 
either branch thereof. 

Art. 34. A majority of all the members 
elected to the senate, shall be required for 
the confirmation or rejection of officers to 
be appointed by the governor, with the ad¬ 
vice and consent of the senate; and the 
senate in deciding thereon, shall vote by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the sena¬ 
tors voting for and against the appoint¬ 
ments respectively, shall be entered on a 
journal to be kept for that purpose, and 
made public at the end of each session, or 
before. 

Art. 35. Returns of all elections for 
members of the general assembly shall be 
made to the secretary of state. 

Art. 36, A treasurer of the State shall 
be elected biennially, by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the general assembly. The 
governor shall have the power to fill any 
vacancy that may happen in that office 
during the recess of the legislature. 

Art. 37. In the year in which a regular 
election of a senator of the United States 
is to take pluce, the members of the gene¬ 
ral assembly shall meet in the hall of the 
house of representatives, on the Monday 
following the meeting of the legislature, 
and proceed to the said election. 

TITLE III. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

Art. 38. The supreme executive pow¬ 
er of the State shall be vested in a chief 
magistrate, who shall be styled the gover¬ 
nor of the State of Louisiana. He shall 
hold his office during the term of four years; 




;*46 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


and together with the lieutenant governor 
chosen for the same term, be elected as 
follows:—The qualified electors for repre¬ 
sentatives, shall vote for a governor and 
lieutenant governor, at the time and place 
of voting for representatives; the returns of 
every election shall be sealed up and trans¬ 
mitted by the proper returning officer to 
the secretary of state; who shall deliver 
them to the speaker of the house of repre¬ 
sentatives on the second day oi the session 
of the general assembly, then next to be 
holden. The members of the general as¬ 
sembly shall meet in the house of repre¬ 
sentatives, to examine and count the votes. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for governor shall be declared duly 
elected, but if two or more persons shall be 
equal and highest in the number of votes 
polled for governor, one of them shall im¬ 
mediately be chosen governor by joint vote 
of the members of the general assembly. 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for lieutenant governor shall be lieu¬ 
tenant governor, but if two or more per¬ 
sons shall be equal and highest in the num¬ 
ber of votes polled for lieutenant governor, 
one of them shall be immediately chosen 
lieutenant governor by joint vote of the 
members of the general assembly. 

A.rt. 39. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of governor or lieutenant govern¬ 
or, who shall not have attained the age of' 
thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citi¬ 
zen of the United States, and a resident 
within this State for the same space of time 
next preceding his election. 

Art. 40. The governor shall enter on 
the discharge of his duties on the fourth 
Monday of January next ensuing his elec¬ 
tion, and shall continue in office until the 
Monday next succeeding the day that his 
successor shall have been declared duly 
elected, and shall have taken the oath or 
affirmation prescribed by this Constitution. 

Art. 41. The governor shall be ineligi¬ 
ble for the succeeding four years after the 
expiration of the time for which he shall 
have been elected. 

Art. 42. No member of congress or 

O 

person holding any office under the United 
States, or minister of any religious society, 
shall be eligible to the office of governor or 
lieutenant governor. 

Art. 43. In case of the impeachment 
of the governor, his removal from office, 


death, refusal or inability to qualify, resig¬ 
nation or absence from the State, the pow¬ 
ers and duties of the office shall devolve 
upon the lieutenant governor for the resi¬ 
due of the term, or until the governor, ab¬ 
sent or impeached, shall return or be ac¬ 
quitted. The legislature may provide by 
law for the case of removal, impeachment, 
death, resignation, disability; or refusal to 
qualify, of both the governor and lieutenant 
governor, declaring what officer shall act 
as governor, and such officer shall act ac¬ 
cordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or for the residue of the term. 

Art. 44. The lieutenant governor, or 
other officer discharging the duties of gov¬ 
ernor, shall, during his administration, re¬ 
ceive the same compensation to which the 
governor would have been entitled, had he 
continued in office. 

Art. 45. The lieutenant governor shall, 
by virtue of his office, be president of the 
senate, but shall have only a casting vote 
therein. Whenever he shall administer 
the government, or shall be unable to at¬ 
tend as president of the senate the sena¬ 
tors shall elect one of their own members 
as president of the senate for the time 
being. 

Art. 46. While he acts as president of 
the senate, the lieutenant governor shall 
receive for his services the same compen¬ 
sation which shall for the same period be 
allowed to the speaker of the house of rep¬ 
resentatives, and no more. 

Art. 47. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to grant reprieves for all offences against 
the State, and except in cases of impeach¬ 
ment, shall, with the consent of the senate, 
have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction. In 
cases of treason he may grant reprieves, 
until the end of the next session of the gen¬ 
eral assembly, in which the power of par¬ 
doning shall be vested. 

Art. 48. The governor shall at stated 
times receive for his services a compensa¬ 
tion, which shall neither be increased or 
diminished during the term for which he 
shall have been elected. 

Art. 49. He shall be communder-in- 
chief of the army and navy of this State 
and of the militia thereof, except when 
they shall be called into the service of the 
United States. 

\ Art. 50. He shall nominate, and by and 



347 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana . 


with the advice and consent of the senate, 
appoint all officers whose offices are es¬ 
tablished by this constitution, and whose 
appointment is not therein otherwise pro¬ 
vided for: Provided, however, that the 
legislature shall have a right to prescribe 
the mode of appointment to all other offices 
established by law. 

Art. 51. The governor shall have pow¬ 
er to fill vacancies that may happen during 
the recess of the senate, by granting com¬ 
missions which shall expire at the end of 
the next'session, unless otherwise provided 
for in this constitution; but no person who 
has been nominated for office, and rejected 
by the senate, shall be appointed to the 
same office during the recess of the senate 

Art. 52. He may require information 
in writing from the officers in the execu¬ 
tive department, upon any subject relating 
to the duties of their respective offices. 

Art. 53. He shall from time to time, 
give to the general assembly information 
respecting the situation of the State, and 
recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he may deem expedient. 

Art. 54. He may on extraordinary oc¬ 
casions convene the general assembly at 
the seat of government, or at a different 
place if that should become dangerous from 
an enemy or from epidemics; and in case 
of disaoreemet between the two houses as 

O 

to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he may think proper, 
not exceeding four months. 

Art. 55. He shall take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed. 

Art. 56. Every bill which shall have 
passed both houses shall be presented to 
the governor; if he approve he shall sign 
it, if not, he shall return it with his ob¬ 
jections to the house in which it origina¬ 
ted, which shall enter the objections at 
large upon its journal, and proceed to re¬ 
consider it; if after such reconsideration 
two-thirds of all the members elected to 
that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent with the objections to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds 
of all the members elected to that house, 
it shall be a law; but in such cases the vote 
of both houses shall be determined by yeas 
and nays, and the names ot the members 
voting for and against the bill, shall be en¬ 
tered on the journal of each house respec¬ 


tively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the governor within ten days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented 
to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the general as¬ 
sembly by adjournment, prevent its return; 
in which case it shall bea law, unless sent 
back within three days after their next 
meeting. 

Art. 57. Every order, resolution or vote 
to which the concurrence of both houses 
may be necessary,- except on a question of 
adjournment, shall be presented to the gov¬ 
ernor, and before it shall take effect, be 
approved by him, or being disapproved, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the 
members elected to each house of the gen¬ 
eral assembly. 

Art. 58. There shall be a secretary of 
state, who shall hold his office during the 
time for which the governor shall have 
been elected. The records of the State 
shall be kept and preserved in the office ot 
the secretary; he shall keep a fair register 
of the official acts and proceedings of the 
governor, and when necessary shall attest 
them.' He shall, when required, lay the 
said register, and all papers, minutes and 
vouchers relative to his office, before either 
house of the general assembly, and shall 
perform such other duties as may be en¬ 
joined on him by law. 

Art. 59. All commissions shall be in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana, and shall be sealed with the 
State seal and signed by the governor. 

Art. 60. The free white men of the 
State shall be armed and disciplined for 
its defence; but those who belong to reli¬ 
gious societies whose tenets forbid them to 
carry arms, shall not be compelled so to do, 
but shall pay an equvalent for personal ser¬ 
vices. 

Art. 61. The militia of the State shall 
be organized in such manner as may be 
hereafter deemed most expedient by the 
legislature. 

TITLE IV. 

JUDICIARY DEPARMENT. 

Art. 62. The judicial power shall be 
vested in a supreme court, in district courts 
and injustices of the peace. 

Art. 63. The supreme court, except in 
cases hereinafter provided, shall have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction 
shall extend to all cases when the matter 






348 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


in dispute shall exceed three hundred dol¬ 
lars, to all cases in which the constitution- 
ality of any tax, toll, or impost of any kind 
or nature soever, shall be in contestation, 
whatever may be the amount thereof; and 
likewise to all fines, forfeitures and penal¬ 
ties imposed by municipal corporations; 
and in criminal cases on questions of law 
alone, whenever the punishment ot death 
or hard labor may be inflicted, or when a 
hue exceeding three hundred dollars is ac¬ 
tually imposed. 

Art. 64. The supreme court shall be 
composed of one chief justice and of three 
associate judges, a majority of whom shall 
constitute a quorum. The chief justice 
shall receive a salary of six thousand dol¬ 
lars, and each of the associate judges a sal¬ 
ary of five thousand five hundred dollars, 
annually. The said court shall appoint 
its own clerks. The said judges shall be 
appointed for the term of eight years. 

Art. 65. When the first appointments 
are made under this constitution, the chief 
justice shall be appointed for the term of 
eight years, one of the associate judges for 
six years, one for four years and one for 
two years; and in the event of the death, 
resignation, or removal of any of said 
judges, before the expiration of the period 
for which he was appointed, his successor 
shall be appointed only for the remainder 
of his term: so that the term of office of 
no two of said judges shall expire at the 
same time. 

Art. 66. The supreme court shall Hold 
its sessions in New Orleans from the first 
Monday of the month of November to the 
end of the month of June, inclusive. The 
legislature shall have power to fix the ses¬ 
sions elsewhere during the rest of the 
year; until otherwise provided, the ses¬ 
sions shall be held as heretofore. 

Art. 67. The supreme court, and each 
of the judges thereof, shall have power to 
issue writs of habeas corpus, at the instance 
of all persons in actual custody under pro¬ 
cess, in all cases in which they may have 
appellate jurisdiction. 

Art. 68. In all cases in which the judges 
shall be equally dived in opinion, the judg¬ 
ment appealed from shall stand affirmed; 
in which case each of the judges shall 
give his separate opinion in writing. 

Art. 69. All judges, by virtue of their 
office, shall be conservators of the peace 


throughout the State. The style of all 
process shall be “ the State of Louisiana.” 
All prosecutions shall be carried on “in 
the name and by the authority of the State 
of Louisiana,” and conclude “against the 
peace and dignitv of the same.” 

Art. 70. The judges of all courts with¬ 
in this State shall, as often as it is possible 
so to do, in every definitive judgment, re¬ 
fer to the particular law in virtue of which 
such judgment may be rendered, and in 
all cases adduce the reasons on which such 
judgment is founded. 

Art. 71. No court or judge shall make 
any allowance by way of fee or compen¬ 
sation in any suit or proceedings, except 
for the payment of such fees to the minis¬ 
terial officers as may be established by 
law. 

Art. 72. No duties or functions shall 
ever be attached by law to the supreme or 
district courts, or to the several judges 
thereof, but such as are judicial; and the 
said judges are prohibited from receiving 
any fees of office, or other compension 
than their salaries for any civil duties per- 
ormed by them. 

Art. 73. The judges of all courts shall 
be liable to impeachment; but for any rea- 
sonsable cause, which shall not be suffi¬ 
cient ground for impeachment, the govern¬ 
or shall remove any of them, on the ad¬ 
dress of three-fourths of the members pre¬ 
sent of each house of the general assem¬ 
bly. In every such case, the cause or 
causes for which such removal may be re¬ 
quired, shall be stated at length in the ad¬ 
dress, and inserted in the journal of each 
house. 

Art. 74. There shall be an attorney 
general for the State, and as many district 
attorneys as may be hereafter found neces¬ 
sary. .They shall hold their offices for 
two years; their duties shall be determined 
by law. 

Art. 75. The first legislature assem¬ 
bled under this constitution, shall divide 
the State into judicial districts, which shall 
remain unchanged for six years, and be 
subject to reorganization every sixth year 
thereafter. 

The number of districts shell not be less 
than twelve, nor more than twenty. 

For each district one judge, learned in 
the law shall be appointed, except in the 
district in which the cities of New Orleans 









Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 349 


ami Lafayette are situated, in which the 
legislature many establish as many district 
courts as the public interest may require. 

Art. 76. Each of the said judges shall 
receive a salary to be fixed by law, which 
shall not be increased or diminished dur¬ 
ing his term of office, and shall never be 
less than two thousand five hundred dol¬ 
lars annually. He must be a citizen of 
the United States, over the age of thirty 
years, and have resided in the State for six 
years next preceding his appointment, and 
have practiced law therein for the space of 
five years. 

Art. 77. The judges of the district 
courts shall hold their offices for the term 
of six years. The judges first appointed 
shall be divided by ballot into three class¬ 
es, as nearly equal as can he; and the term 
of office of the judges of the first class 
shall expire at the end of two years, of 
the second class at the end of four years, 
and of the third class at the end of six 
years. 

Art. 78. The district courts shall have 
original jurisdiction in all civil cases when 
the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, 
exclusive of interest. In all criminal ca¬ 
ses, and in all matters connected with suc¬ 
cessions, their jurisdiction shall be unlim¬ 
ited. 

Art. 79. The legislature shall have 
power to vest in clerks of courts authority 
to grant such orders, and do such acts as 
may be deemed necessary for the further¬ 
ance of the administration of justice; and 
in all cases the powers thus granted shall 
be specified and determined. 

1 Art. 80. The clerks of the several 
courts snail be removable, for breach ol 
good behavior, by the judges thereof; 
subject in all cases to an appeal to the su¬ 
preme court. 

Art. 81. The jurisdiction of justices of 
the peace shall never exceed in civil cases 
the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive 
of interest, subject to an appeal to the dis¬ 
trict court in such cases as shall be provid¬ 
ed for by law. They shall be elected by 
the qualified voters of each parish, for the 
term of two years, and shall have such 
criminal jurisdiction as shall be providec 
for by law. 

Art. 82. Clerks of the disirict courts 
in this State shall be elected by the quali¬ 
fied electors in each parish for the term o 


four years, and should a vacancy occur sub¬ 
sequent to an election, it shall be filled by 
the judge of the court in which such vacan¬ 
cy exists, and the person so appointed shall 
idd his office until the next general elec¬ 
tion. 

Art. 83. A sherifF and a coroner shall 
be elected in each parish, by the qualified 
voters thereof, who shall hold their offices 
for the term of two years, unless sooner 
removed. 

Should a vacancy occur in either of these 
offices subsequent to an election, it shall be 
filled by the governor; and the person so 
appointed shall continue in office until his 
successor shall be elected and qualified. 
TITLE V. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

Art. 84. The power of impeachment 
shall be vested in the house of representa¬ 
tives. 

Art. 85. Impeachments of the gover¬ 
nor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, 
secretary of State, State treasurer, and the 
judges of the district courts, shall be tried 
by the senate; the chief justice of the su¬ 
preme court, or the senior judge thereof, 
shall preside during the trial of such im¬ 
peachments. Impeachments of the judges 
of the supreme court shall be tried by the 
senate. When sitting as a court of im¬ 
peachment, the senators shall be upon oath 
or affirmation, and no person shall be con¬ 
victed without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the senators present. 

Art. 86. Judgments in cases of im¬ 
peachment shall extend only to removal 
from office and disqualification from hold¬ 
ing any office of honor, trust or profit un¬ 
der this State; but the parties convicted 
shall, nevertheless, be subject to indict¬ 
ment, trial and punishment, according to 
law. 

Art. 87. All officers against whom articles 
of impeachment may be preferred, shall 
be suspended from the exercise of their 
functions during the pendency of such im¬ 
peachment. The appointing power may 
make a provisional appointment to replace 
any suspended officer until the decision on 
the impeachment. 

Art. 88. The legislature shall provide 
by law for the trial, punishment and remo¬ 
val from office of all other officers of the 
State, by indictment or otherwise. 

On motion, the report of the committee 



850 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


of revision in relation to public education 
was taken up for its third reading, viz: 
TITLE VI. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

Art. 89. Members of the general as¬ 
sembly, and all officers, before they enter 
upon the duties of their offices shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : 

I (A. B.) do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully and impartially dis¬ 
charge and perform all the duties incum¬ 
bent on me as-, according to the 

best of my abilities and understanding, 
agreeably to the constitution and laws of 
the United States, and of this State; and I 
do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
since the adoption of the present constitu¬ 
tion, I, being a citizen of this State, have 
not fought a duel with deadly weapons 
within this State, nor out of it, with a 
citizen of the State, nor have I sent or 
acepted a challenge to fight a duel with 
deadly weapons with a citizen of the State, 
nor have acted as second in carrying a 
challenge, or aided, advised, or assisted 
any person thus offending, so help me 
God.” 

Art. 90. Treason against the State 
shall consist only in levying war against, 
or in adhering to its enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con¬ 
victed of treason, unless on the testimony 
of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
his own confession in open court. 

Art. 91. Every person shall be dis¬ 
qualified from holding any office of trust 
or profit in this State, who shall have been 
convicted of having given, or offered a 
bribe to procure his election or appoint¬ 
ment. 

Art. 92. Laws shall be made to ex¬ 
clude from office and from the right of suf¬ 
frage, those who shall hereafter be convict* 
ed of bribery, perjury, forgery, or other 
high crimes or misdemeanors. 

The privilege of free suffrage shall be 
supported by laws regulating elections, and 
prohibiting under adequate penalties all 
undue influence thereon from power, 
bribery, tumult or other improper practice. 

Art. 93. No money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in pursuance of spe¬ 
cific appropriations made by law, nor shall 
any appropriation of money be made for a 
longer term than two years. A regular 
statement and account of the receipts and 


expenditures of all public money shall be 
published annually, in such manner as 
shall be prescribed Ijy law. 

Art. 94. It shall be the duty of the gen¬ 
eral assembly to pass such laws as may be 
necessary and proper to decide differences 
by arbitration. 

Art. 95. All civil officers for the State 
at large shall reside within the State, and 
all district or parish officers within their 
districts or parishes, and shall keep their 
offices at such places therein as may be 
required by law. No person shall be 
elected or appointed to any parish office 
who shall not have resided in such parish 
long enough before such election or ap¬ 
pointment, to have acquired the right of 
voting in such parish; and no person shall 
be elected or appointed to any district 
office, who shall not have resided in such 
district, or an adjoining district, long 
enough before such appointment, or elec¬ 
tion, to have acquired the right of voting 
in the same. 

Art. 96. The duration of all offices not 
fixed by this constitution, shall never ex¬ 
ceed four years. 

Art. 97. All civil officers, except the 
governor and judges of the supreme and 
district courts, shall be removeable by an 
address of a majority of the members of 
both houses, except those the removal oj 
whom has been otherwise provided for by 
this constitution. 

Art. 98. Absence on business of this 
State or of the United State, shall not for¬ 
feit a residence once obtained, so as to de¬ 
prive any one of the right of suffrage, or 
of being elected or appointed to any office 
under the exceptions contained in this con¬ 
stitution. 

Art 99. It shall be the duty of the le¬ 
gislature to provide by law for deductions 
from the salaries of public officers who 
may be guilty of a neglect of duty. 

Art. 100. The legislature shall point 
out the manner in which a person coming 
into the State shall declare his residence. 

Art. 101. In all elections by the people 
the vote shall be by ballot, and in all elec¬ 
tions by the senate and house of represen¬ 
tatives, jointly or separately, the vote shall 
be given viva voce. 

Art. 102. No member of congress, nor 
person holding or exercising any office of 
trust or profit under the United States, or 





V 


351 


Journal oj the Convention of Louisiana, 


either of them, or under any foreign power, 
shall be eligible as a member of the gene- 
ral assembly, or hold or exercise any office 
of trust or profit under the State. 

Art. 103. The laws, the public records 
and the judicial and legislative written pro¬ 
ceedings of the State, shall be promulgated, 
preserved and conducted in the language 
in which the constitution of the United 
States is written. 

Art. 104. The secretary of the senate, 
and clerk of the house of representatives, 
shall be conversant with the French and 
English languages, and members may ad¬ 
dress either house in the French or English 
language. 

Art. 105 The general assembly shall 
direct by law, how persons who are now, 
or may hereafter become sureties for pub¬ 
lic officers, may be discharged from such 
suretyship. 

Art. 106. No power of suspending the 
laws of this State shall be exercised, unless 
by the Legislature or its authority. 

Art, 107. Prosecutions shall be by in¬ 
dictment, or information. The accused 
shall have a speedy public trial by an im¬ 
partial jury of the vicinage : he shall not be 
compelled to give evidence against himself; 
he shall have the right of being heard by 
himself or counsel; he shall have the right, 
unless he shall have fled from justice, of 
meeting the witnesses face to face, and 
shall have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor. 

Art. 108. All prisoners shall be baila¬ 
ble by sufficient sureties, unless for capital 
offences, where the proof is evident, or pre¬ 
sumption .great; and the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall hot be suspen¬ 
ded, unless when in case of rebellion or in¬ 
vasion the public safety may require it. 

Art. 109. No ex post facto law, nor any 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, 
shall be passed; nor vested rights be di¬ 
vested unless for purposes of public utility, 
and for adequate compensation previously 
made, 

Art. 110. The press shall be free. Ev¬ 
ery citizen may freely speak, write and pub¬ 
lish his sentiments on all subjects ; being 
responsible for an abuse of this liberty. 

Art. 111. Emigration from the State 
shall not be prohibited. 

Art. 112. The general assembly which 
hall meet after the first election of repre- | 


sentatives under this Constitution, shall, 
within the first month after the commence¬ 
ment of the session, designate and fix the 
seat of government, at some place not less 
than sixty miles from the city of New Or¬ 
leans, by the nearest travelling route ; and 
if on the Mississippi river, by the mean¬ 
ders of the same : and when so fixed, it 
shall not be removed without the consent 
of four fifths of the members of both hous¬ 
es of the general assembly. The sessions 
shall be held in New Orleans until the end 
of the year 1848. 

Art. 113. The legislature shall not 
pledge the faith of the State for the pay¬ 
ment of any bonds, bills, or other contracts 
or obligations for the benefit or use of any 
person or persons, corporation or body po¬ 
litic whatever. But the State shall have 
the right to issue new bonds in payment of 
its outstanbing obligations or liabilities, 
whether due or not; the said new bonds, 
however, are not to be issued for a larger 
amount or at a higher rate of interest, than 
the original obligations they are intended 
to replace. 

Art. 114. The aggregate amount of 
debts hereafter contracted by the legisla¬ 
ture, shall never exceed the sum of one 
hundred thousand dollars, except in case 
of war, to repel invasions or suppres insur¬ 
rections, unless the same be authorized by 
some law, for some single object or work, to 
be distinctly specified therein ; which law 
shall provide ways and means, by taxation, 
for the payment of running interest during 
the whole time for which said debt shall be 
contracted, and for the full and punctual 
discharge at maturity, of the capital bor¬ 
rowed ; and said law shall be irrepealable 
until principal and interest are fully paid 
and discharged, and shall not be put into 
execution until after its enactment by the 
first legislature returned by a general 
election after its passage. 

Art. 115. The legislature shall pro. 
vide by law for a change of venue in civil 
and criminal cases. 

Art. 116. No lottery shall be authorized 
by this State, and the buying or sellingoflot¬ 
tery tickets wiihin the State is prohited. 

Art. 117. No divorce shall be granted 
by the Legislature. 

Art. 118. Every law enacted by the le¬ 
gislature shall embrace but one object, and 
that shall be expressed in the title. 





352 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


Art. 119. No law shall lie revived or 
amended by reference to its title ; but in 
such case, the act revived, or section amen¬ 
ded, shall be re-enacted and published at 
length. 

Art. 120. The legislature shall never 
adopt any system or code of laws by gene¬ 
ral reference to such system or code of 
laws ; but in all cases shall specify the sev¬ 
eral provisions of the laws it may enact. 

Art. 121. The State shall not become 
subscriber to the stbek of any corporation 
or joint stock company- 

Art. 122. No corporate body shall be 
hereafter created, renewed or extended, 
with banking or discounting privileges. 

Art. 123. Corporations shall not be 
created in this State by special laws, ex¬ 
cept for political or municipal purposes ; 
but the legislature shall provide by gene¬ 
ral laws, for the organization of all other 
corporations, except corporations with ban¬ 
king or discounting privileges, the creation 
of which is prohibited. 

Art. 124. From and after the month of 
January, 1890, the legislature shall have 
the power to revoke the charters of all cor¬ 
porations whose charters shall not have 
expired previous to that time, and no cor¬ 
porations hereafter to be created shall ever 
endure for a longer term than twenty-five 
years, except those which are political or 
municipal. 

Art. 125. The general assembly shall 
never grant any exclusive privilege or mo¬ 
nopoly, for a longer period than twenty 
years. 

Art. 126. No person shall hold or ex¬ 
ercise, at the same time, more than one 
civil office of emolument, except that of 
justice of the peace. 

Art. 127. Taxation shall be equal and 
uniform throughout the State. After the 
year 1848 all property, on which taxes 
may be levied in this State, shall be taxed 
in proportion to its value, to be ascertained 
as directed by law. No one species of 
property shall be taxed higher than ano¬ 
ther species of property of equal value, on 
which taxes shall be levied; the legisla¬ 
ture shall have power to levy an income 
tax, and to tax all persons pursuing any 
occupation, trade or profession. 

Art. 128. The citizens of the city of 
New Orleans shall have the right of ap¬ 
pointing the several public officers neces¬ 


sary for the administration of the police of 
the said city, pursuant to the mode of elec¬ 
tions which shall be prescribed by the 
legislature; provided, that the mayor and 
recorders shall be ineligible to a seat in 
the general assembly; and the mayor, re¬ 
corders and aldermen shall be commission¬ 
ed by the governor as justices of the peace, 
and the legislature may vest in them such 
criminal jurisdiction as may be necessary 
for the punishment of minor crimes and 
offences, and as the police and good order 
of said city may require. - 

Art. 129. The legislature may provide 
by law in what case officers shall continue 
to perform the duties of their offices until 
their successors shall have been inducted 
into office. 

Art. 130. Any citizen of this Slate who 
shall, after the adopt ion of this constitution, 
fight a duel with deadly weapons with a 
citizen of this State, or send or accept a 
challenge to fight a duel with deadly wea¬ 
pons, either within the State or out of it, 
with a citizen of this State, or who shall 
act as second, or knowingly aid and assist 
in any manner those thus offending, shall 
be deprived of holding any office of trust 
or profit, and of enjoying the right of suf¬ 
frage under this constitution. 

Art. 131. The legislature shall have 
power to extend this constitution, and the 
jurisdiction of this State over any territory 
acquired by compact with any State, or 
with the United Statoe, the same being 
done by the consent of the United States. 

Art. 132. The constitution and laws of 
this State, shall be promulgated in the En¬ 
glish and French languages.- 
TITLE VII. 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 

Art. 133. There shall be appointed a- 
superintendent of public education, who 
shall hold his office for two years. His 
duties shall be prescribed by law. He 
shall receive compensation as the legisla¬ 
ture may direct. 

Art. 134. The legislature shall establish 
free public schools throughout the State, 
and shall provide means for their support 
by taxation on property or otherwise. 

Art. 135. The proceeds of all lands 
heretofore granted by the United States to 
this State for the use or support of schools, 
and of all lands which may hereafter be 
granted or bequeathed to the State, and not 



Journal of the Convention of Louisiana . 


353 


expressly granted or bequeathed for any 
other purpose, which hereafter may be 
disposed ol’by the State, and the proceeds 
of the estates of deceased persons to which 
the State may become entitled by law, 
shall be held by the State as a loan, and 
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, on 
which the State shall pay an annual inter¬ 
est of six per cent; which interest together 
with all the rents of the unsold lands, shall 
be appropriated to the support of such 
schools, and this appropriation shall remain 
inviolable. 

Art. 136. All moneys arising from the 
sale which have been or may hereafter be 
made of any lands heretofore granted by the 
United States to this State, for the use of a 
seminary of learning, and from any kind of 
donation that may hereafter be made for 
that purpose, shall be and remain a perpet¬ 
ual fund, the interest of which at six per 
cent per annum, shall be appropriated to 
the support of a seminary of learning for 
the promotion of literature and the arts and 
sciences, and no law shall ever be made 
diverting said fund to any other use than to 
the establishmeht and improvement of said 
seminary of learning. 

Art. 137. An university shall be estab¬ 
lished in the city of New Orleans. It shall 
be composed of four faculties, to wit: one 
of law, one of medicine, one of the natural 
•sciences, and one of letters. 

Art. 100 . It eknll be called “ the Uni¬ 
versity of Louisiana,” and the Medical Col¬ 
lege of Louisian as at present organized, 
shall constitute the faculty of medicine. 

Art. 139. The legislature shall provide 
by law, for its further organization and go¬ 
vernment; but shall be under no obligation 
to contribute to the establishment or sup¬ 
port of said university by appropriations, 
TITLE VIII. 

MODE OF REVISING THE CONSTITUTION. 

Art. 140. Any amendment or amend¬ 
ments to this Constitution may be propo¬ 
sed to the senate or house of representa¬ 
tives, and if the same shall be agreed to 
by three-fifths of the members elected to 
each house, and approved by the governor, 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be entered on their journals, with 
the yeas and nays taken thereon, and the 
secretary of state shall cause the same to 
be published, three months before the next 
general election, in at least one newspa- 
45 


pers in P'rench and English, in every parish 
in the State in which a newspaper shall 
be published; and if, in the legislature next 
afterwards chosen, such proposed amend¬ 
ment or amendments shall be agreed to by 
a majority of the members elected to each 
house, the secretary of state shall cause 
the same again to be published in the man¬ 
ner aforesaid, at least three months pre¬ 
vious to the next general election for re¬ 
presentatives to the State legislature, and 
such proposed amendment or amendments 
shall be submitted to the people at said 
election; and if a majority of the qualified 
electors shall approve and ratify such 
amendment or amendments, the same shall * 
Income a part of the constitution. If more 
than one amendment be submitted at a 
time, they shall be submitted in such man¬ 
ner and form that the people may vote for 
or against each amendment, separately. 
TITLE IX. 

SCHEDULE. 

Art. 141. The Constitution adopted in 
1812 is declared to be superseded by this 
Constitution, and in order to carry the same 
into offect, it is hereby declared and ordain¬ 
ed as folllows: 

Art. 142. All rights, actions, prosecu¬ 
tions, claims and contracts, as w 7 ell of indi¬ 
viduals as of bodies corporate, and all laws 
in force at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, and not inconsistent therewith 
shall continue as if the same had not been 
adopted. 

Art. 148. Until the first enumeration 
shall be made as directed in article eighth, 
of this Constitution, the parish of Orleans 
shall have twenty representatives, to be 
elected as follows, viz: 

Eight by the First Municipality, seven 
by the Second Municipality, and four by 
the Third Municipality, to be distributed 
among the nine representative districts as 
follows, by allotting to the 


First district, 

two Rep. 

Second 

<( 

two 

Third 

u 

three 

Fourth 

it 

three 

Fifth 

a 

three 

Sixth 

K 

two 

Seventh 

u 

two 

Eighth 

n 

one 

Ninth 

u 

one 

And to that part of the parish 

on the right 

bank of the Mississippi, 

one 





354 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parish of Plaquemines, 


a 

shall have 

St. Bernard, 

three 

one 

u 

Jefferson, 

three 

a 

St. Charles, 

one 


St. John the Baptist, one 

*f 

St. James, 

two 

a 

Ascension, 

two 

a 

Assumption, 

three 

n 

Lafourche Interior, 

three 

a 

Terrebone, 

two 

a 

Iberville, 

two 

tt 

West Baton Rouge, 

one 

it 

East do. 

three 

a 

West Feliciana, 

two 

a 

East do 

three 

a 

St. Helena, 

one 

a 

Washington, 

one 

it 

Livingston, 

St. Tammany, 

one 

ti 

one 

a 

Point Coupee, 

one 

a 

Concordia, 

one 


Tensas, 

one 

tc 

Madison, 

one 

tt 

Carroll, 

one 

a 

Franklin, 

one 


St. Mary, 

two 

44 

St. Martin, 
Vermillion, 

three 

44 

one 

44 

Lafayette, 

two 

44 

St. Landry, 

five 

44 

Calcasieu, 

one 

44 

Avoyelles 

two 

44 

Rapides, 

three 

44 

Natchitoches, 

three 

44 

Sabine, 

* 

two 

44 

Caddo, 

one 

44 

De Soto, 

one 

44 

Ouachita, 

one 

44 

Morehouse, 

one 

44 

Union 

one 

44 

Jackson, 

one 

44 

Caldwell, 

one 

44 

Catahoula, 

two 

44 

Claiborne, 

two 

44 

Bossier, 

one 


Total, ninety.eight. 

And the State shall be divided into the 
following senatorial districts: 

All that portion of the parish of Orleans 
lying on the east side of the Mississippi 
river shall compose one senatorial district, 
and shall elect four senators; 

The parishes of Plaquemines, St Ber¬ 
nard, and that part of the parish of Or¬ 
leans lying on the right bank of the river, 


shall compose one district, with one senator, 

The parish of Jefferson shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Charles and St. 
John the Baptist shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parish of St. James shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Ascension shall compose 
one district with one senator; 

The parishes of Assumption, Lafourche 
Interior and Terrebonne shall compose 
one district, with two senators; 

The parishes of Iberville and West 
Baton Rouge shall compose one district, 
with one senator; 

The parish of East Baton Rouge shall 
compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Point Coupee shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Avoyelles shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Mary shall compose 
one distrtct, with one senator; 

The parish of St. Martin shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Lafayette and Vermil¬ 
lion shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of St. Landry and Calca¬ 
sieu, shall compose one district, with two 
senators; 

The parish of West Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator* 

The parish ot East Feliciana shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of St. Helena and Livings¬ 
ton shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

The parishes of Washington and St. 
Tammany, shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parishes of Concordia and Tensas 
shall compose one district with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Carroll and Madison 
shall compose one district, with one sen¬ 
ator; 

The parishes of Jackson, Union, More¬ 
house and Ouachita shall compose one dis¬ 
trict, with one senator; 

The parishes of Caldwell, Franklin and 
Catahoula shall compose one district, with 
one senator; 

The parish of Rapides shall compose 
one district, with one senator; 





355 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


The parishes of Bossier and Claiborne 
shall compose one district, with one senator; 

The parish of Natchitoches shall com¬ 
pose one district, with one senator; 

The parishes of Sabine, De Soto and 
Caddo shall compose one district, with one 
senator; 

And whenever a new parish shall be crea¬ 
ted,it shall be attached to the senatorial dis¬ 
trict from which most of its territory was 
taken or to another contiguous district at 
thediscretion of the legislature, but shall not 
be attached to more than one district. 

Art. 144. In order that no inconveni¬ 
ence may result to the public service from 
the taking effect of this Constititution, no 
office shall be superseded thereby ; but the 
laws of the State relative to the duties of 
the several officers, executive, judicial and 
military, shall remain in full force, though 
the same be contrary to this Constitution, 
and the several duties shall be performed 
by the respective officers of the State accor¬ 
ding to the existing laws, until the organi¬ 
zation of the government under this Con¬ 
stitution, and the entering into office of the 
new officers, to be appointed under said 
government, and no longer. 

Art. 145. Appointments to office by 
the executive under this Constitutton, shall 
be made by the governor to be elected un¬ 
der its authority. 

Art. 146. The provisions of article 28, 
Concerning the inability of members of the 
legislature to hold certain offices therein 
mentioned, shall not be held to apply to 
the members of the first legislature elected 
unde r this Constitution. 

Art. 147. The time of service of all of¬ 
ficers chosen by the people, at the first 
election under this Constitution, shall ter¬ 
minate as though the election had been hol- 
den on the first Monday of November 
1845, and they had entered on the discharge 
of their duties at the time designated therein. 

Art. 148. The legislature shall provide 
for the removal of all causes now pending 
in the supreme or other courts of the 
courts under the Constitution of 1812, to 
State created by this Constitution. 

Art. 149. Appeals to the supreme 
court from the parishes of Jackson, Union, 
Morehouse, Catahoula, Caldwell, Ouachi¬ 
ta, Franklin, Carroll, Madison, Tensas, 
and Concoreia, shall until otherwise provi¬ 
ded for, be returnable to New Orleans. 


TITLE X. 

ORDINANCE. 

Art. 150. Immediately after the ad¬ 
journment of the Convention, the governor 
shall issue his proclamation, directing the 
several officers of this State authorized by 
law to hold elections for members of 
the general assembly, to open and hold a 
poll in every parish of the State, at the pla¬ 
ces designated by law, upon the first Mon¬ 
day of November next, for the purpose of 
taking the sense of the good people of 
this State in regard to the adoption or re¬ 
jection of this constitution ; and it shall be 
the duty of the said officers to recive the votes 
of all persons entitled to vote under the 
old constitution and under this constitution. 
Each voter shall express his opinion by 
depositing in the ballot-box a ticket where¬ 
on shall be written “the constitution ac¬ 
cepted,” or “the constitution rejected,” or 
some such words as will distinctly convey 
the intention of the voter. At the conclu¬ 
sion of the said election, which shall be 
conducted in every respect as the general 
State election is now conducted, the parish 
judges and commissioners designated to 
preside over the same, shall carefully exam¬ 
ine and count each ballot so deposited, and 
shall forthwith make due returns thereof to 
the secretary of state, in conformity to the 
provisions of the existing law upon the sub¬ 
ject of elections. 

Art. 151. Upon the receipt of the said 
returns, or on the first Monday of Decem¬ 
ber, if the returns be not sooner received, 
it shall be the duty of the governor, the 
secretary of state, the attorney general, 
and the state treasurer, in the presence of 
all such persons as may choose to attend, to 
compare the votes given at the said poll, 
for the ratification and rejection of this 
constitution, and if it shall appear from 
said returns that a majority of all the votes 
given is for ratifying this constitation, then 
it shall be the duty of the governor to make 
proclamation of that fact, and thenceforth 
this constitution shall be ordained and es¬ 
tablished as the constitution of the State of 
Louisiana. But whether this constitution 
be accepted or rejected, it shall be the duty 
of the governor to cause to be published 
in the State paper the result of the polls, 
showing the number of votes cast in each 
parish, for and against the said constitution. 

Art. 152. Should this constitution be 



356 


Journal of the Convention of Louisiana. 


accepted by the people, it shall also be the 
duty of the governor forthwith to issue his 
proclamation declaring the present legisla¬ 
ture elected under the old constitution, jto 
be dissolved, and directing the several offi¬ 
cers of the State, authorized by law, to hold 
elections for members of the general assem¬ 
bly, to hold an election at the places des¬ 
ignated by law, on the third Monday in 
January next, (1846) for governor, lieu¬ 
tenant governor, members of the general 
assembly, and all other officers whose elec¬ 
tion is provided for pursuant to the provis¬ 
ions of this constitution. And the said 
election shall be conducted and the returns 
thereof made in conformity with existing 
laws upon the subject of State elections. 

Art. 153. The general assembly elec¬ 
ted under this constitution shall convene at 
the state house, in the city of New Orleans, 
upon the second Monday of February next, 
(1846) after the elections; and that the 
governor and lieutenant governor, elected 
at the same time, shall be duly installed in 
office during the first week of their session, 
and before it .shall be competent for the 
said general assembly to proceed with the 
transaction of business. 

On motion of Mr. Lewis, the secretary 
was ordered to call the names of the dele¬ 
gates by counties, to sign the constitution, 
and the following members affixed their 
signatures to the same, to wit: 

Joseph Walker, President of the Conven¬ 
tion, and senatorial delegate of the coun¬ 
ty of Rapides, 

C. M. Conrad, 

John Culbertson, 
George Eustis, 
Bernard Marigny, 


Isaac T. Preston, 
F. B. Conrad, 
Felix Garcia, 

V. DuBouchel, 


J. P. Benjamin, P. Soule, 

H. B. Cenas, James McCallop. 

Zenon LaBauve, A. R. Splane, 

Wm. Bernard Scott, P. Briant, 

Amasa Read, A. Waddill, 

B. Derbes, W. M. Prescott, 

Thos. H. Lewis, of Stephen W. Wikoff, 
the district of Ope- R. Taylor, 
lousas, J. Fenwick Brent, 

Green Hudspeth, Robert C. Ilynson, 
John Blake Weder- Thos. B. Scott, 
strandt, G. Mayo, , 

Pierre Covillion, A. H. McRae, 

M. B. Prescott, A. M. Dunn, of Fe- 
Phanor Prudhomrne, liciana, 

Thos. C. Porter, R. Cade, of Lafay- 

Geo. W. Peets. ette, 

Wm. D. Stephens, C. Voorhies, of At- 
S. W. Downs, of the takapas, 

Ouachita senatorial Thos. W. Chinn, of 


T. M. Wadsworth, Christian Roselius, 


N. Baton Rouge, 
L. Saunders, of E. 
Feliciana, 

Miles Taylor, of As¬ 
sumption, 


district, 

Isaiah Garrett, 

Jacob Humble, 

Pierre Porche, 

Zenon Ledoux, Jr. 

Walthall Burton, 

Attest, 

HORATIO DAVIS, 
Secretary of the Convention 
Mr. Garcia, offered the following res¬ 
olution, which was read and adopted, viz: 

Resolved , that the thanks of the Conven¬ 
tion be tendered to its reporters, Messrs. 
James Foulhouze and Robert Kerr, for 
the care and accuracy with which they 
havc complied with the arduous and deli¬ 
cate task imposed on them. 

On motion, the Convention adjourned. 
sine die. 

Attest, HORATIO DAVIS, 
Secretary of the Convention. 


H 4 i 83 ^ 


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